New airport terminal possible
Early concept drawings show larger public floor space, capacity for growth
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, September 29, 2016
INUVIK
Preliminary plans are underway for the GNWT to replace the Mike Zubko Airport terminal.
Tammy Allison, senior project and planning officer, left, and Noel Best, airport specialist architect, present early ideas for a new terminal building at the Mike Zubko Airport Sept. 20. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
|
Representatives from the territorial government were in Inuvik last week presenting early ideas and looking for feedback from the public.
"This is not a construction project at this time," stressed Kevin Dragon, manager of buildings and planning in the airports division.
"This is very preliminary. Once the planning study is complete, it will be reviewed by various levels of government, who will make the decision of it going forward as a project, its priority in relation to other projects and how it's going to be funded."
What was presented at the meeting proposed constructing a new air terminal building and demolishing the old one and the RCMP hangar.
There would also be a new drop-off lane, which would see drivers entering the premises first greeted by the arrivals exit, not the departure door, which some audience members thought unusual.
"We do recognize that the existing air terminal building has a stronger connection to the existing parking lot," said Tammy Allison, senior project and planning officer and project manager for this proposal.
She added that the most important factor in coming up with the design was access to the apron, which is the area planes use to takeoff and land.
"The airside component is something that is very difficult to change and needs to be considered seriously," she said.
The intent for the project would be that the existing air terminal building remain in operation through construction, although the RCMP hangar would be demolished.
With the rapidly changing nature of airport security, Allison said building flexibility to adapt to those changes into the plan is important.
As well, space has been allocated in the floor plan to have a gift shop in the future if there is interest to develop one.
The new proposed floor plan for the public space would be about 744 square metres, while the current one is 584 square metres.
Allison noted that airport use is closely related to the state of the economy and the level of exploration in oil and gas.
The number of passengers arriving and departing in 2000 from the Inuvik airport was just over 40,000, and it was just over 50,000 in 2015, although it peaked closer to 80,000 in 2007/08 during the height of the economy.
Future projections to 2042 at the airport put passengers at 50,000 to 60,000 or 80,000 to 90,000 in low-growth and medium-growth models, respectively.
