Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport provides the public with a look inside their terminal redesign

Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport provided the public with insight into a new terminal design project at an open house Thursday.  

The event gave Moscow residents a look into the airport’s long-established project with architecture firm Mead & Hunt, who presented their current design scheme at Best Western Plus University Inn.  

The airport’s runway was the subject of a prior program beginning in 2015 and reaching completion in 2019. The runway construction, in addition to ensuring compliance with regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration, improved dependability with the most significant consequence being a reduction in wintertime cancellations. 

“Before the runway program was here it was a coin flip whether or not your flight was going to be cancelled, and that’s no longer the case,” Kevin Mulcaster, project manager at Mead & Hunt said. “The reliability of this airport is consistent with that of Spokane and other airports with similar service.” 

With the runway’s construction complete, the $49.2 million project of overhauling the terminal could finally begin.   

The terminal project has become particularly unique due to the degree federal government has been involved in its funding. A total of $29.5 million came from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program, a value that had always been part of the current terminal project, with an additional $12.5 million recently provided by funding awarded through the CARES Act, Mulcaster said. 

“It’s unheard of for a regional airport of similar size to have that level of federal participation,” Mulcaster said. “Typically, it’s a much more balanced lift between the community and the feds, or even a bigger lift from the community than the federal government.” 

Prior to the pandemic, the firm was expecting to need to raise between $20-25 million in local funding. With the heightened amount of federal funding, this number has reduced to about $7 million, according to Mulcaster. 

“It’s not a great time to be knocking on doors and looking for funding support,” Mulcaster said. “What that CARES money has done is allowed us to continue moving forward with the hope those funding partners will be able to come to the table when they’re ready.” 

With funding secured, one of the biggest factors guiding construction was allowing room for growth. 

“If you look at the average growth and employments across the United States, it’s right around 3%,” Mulcaster said. “And for the better part of the last decade, this airport has grown close to three times that.” 

The airport currently projects 2019 enplanement levels to return by 2022 or 2023, with the long-range predictions for 2030 and 2040 envisioning 145,000 and 197,000 enplanements, respectively. 

To accommodate for these substantial increases, the terminal design allows for gates to be added with minimal renovation. The current model allows for three gates, but that number “could very easily double to six gates,” Tim Dacey, vice president of architecture at Mead & Hunt, said. 

In addition to allowing room for potential growth, the design team also sought to provide airport-goers with a heightened degree of expedience by significantly increasing the overall size of the terminal. 

According to Dacey, the previous crowds forming in the smaller terminal would be alleviated by an increased amount of free space following the security checkpoint Adding an expanded parking lot and improved amenities will also allow travelers some time at the terminal for a more comfortable experience. 

Growth and efficiency were among the most integral factors in the design, but the team at Mead & Hunt also wanted to ensure the region’s landscape was not lost with the new terminal. 

“We’re really trying to capture the gorgeous geology around here, the hills and the rolling landscape,” Dacey said. “We’re also working to try to make wood a primary structural component, just to celebrate the region’s natural resources.” 

The team at Mead & Hunt expects the terminal’s construction to be completed in 2023. 

Royce McCandless can be reached at [email protected]