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Boofer

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:19:34 am

Boofer
Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Article from yesterday's Star...

Talks about the need to keep the current terminal in good repair until the new terminal opens in 2008. Also mentions the installation of terminal-wide fee-based wireless internet.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/p...64&SearchID=73216029695238

Excerpt:

Aging airport's repairs in limbo
With new facility to open in '08, officials mull what to fix now

By Theodore Kim
theodore.kim@indystar.com


Overcrowded bathrooms, concourses and ticketing areas. Ragged carpeting. Squeaky baggage carousels.

After nearly a half-century of service, the passenger terminal at Indianapolis International Airport is showing its age. On pace to eclipse last year's record 8 million passengers, the 34-gate terminal is more taxed and teeming than ever, airport officials say.

However, as they wait for a new 40-gate terminal to open between the main runways in the fall of 2008, airport leaders face a quandary: How much should they improve the present terminal in the meantime?

Given the future move, officials hesitate to make even minor improvements. But mounting passenger totals and aging security and baggage systems have forced airport leaders to spend millions to stretch the life of the facility, which was built in the late 1950s and last expanded in 1987.

"It's like having a house and thinking about paving your driveway before you move," airport Director Patrick Dooley said. "You have to ask yourself: How bad is the driveway? Most of what is invested in this building cannot be recovered."

What the current terminal will become after the move has not been determined, though airport officials have speculated it might be used for office space or by cargo giant FedEx, which keeps its second-largest air freight hub here and has shown interest in expanding.

continued at indystar.com.....

Can I get a peanut crumb with that thimble of Coke?

Indy

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:27:43 pm

Indy
Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Good story. I have no idea how I managed to miss that one. What is a priority in your opinion? Bathrooms or plasma flight displays? I'm not quite sure I agree with the priority as indicated in the report but I'm not writing the checks so I guess I can't complain.

Food4Geeks.com - Even Geeks Like To Eat.

Boofer

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 03:48:36 pm

Boofer
Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I don't know that I could put one over the other. The flight status system is really important. It's not so important that they're on fancy plasma screens, but it's the rest of the upgrade that really matters. The system currently requires each airline to manually update the airport-wide status monitors. The new system will do that automatically. I don't know how many times I've reacted to info on those screens only to find out later that it's incorrect. So having correct real-time info available is a pretty important upgrade.

On the other hand, the restrooms are small, crowded, and seem to never be clean. If you're ever there in the morning rush time, you'll find in the men's rooms that seats are in high demand. You usually end up waiting a while if you need to sit down (that's as delicately as I can put it on a respectable website Very Happy ) Even when the restrooms aren't overcrowded, it seems like they're always dirty. Or wet. Or the faucets/valves don't work. Or they are out of paper towels. Or whatever, they definitely need an upgrade. I would support just generally bringing the restrooms into good repair, giving them a coat of paint, and putting in an extra cleaning crew during the day - but not expanding them at this point.

So if I had a vote to cast, it would be tough. I'd probably split my vote 75/25 in favor of the restrooms over the monitors.

Can I get a peanut crumb with that thimble of Coke?

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