Birmingham-based Hoar Program Management will oversee the $250 million effort to create a new airport terminal complex near downtown Mobile, following a Thursday vote by the Mobile Airport Authority.
The selection had seemed likely since May, after the company got the highest score among several firms whose proposals were evaluated by the authority. The approval means the clock is now officially running on an “aggressive” three-year timetable.
“After the many years we’ve been on this project, it’s a momentous day if we can pass this contract,” MAA board chair Elliot Maisel said before the vote. He credited Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson with making the swap a priority several years ago, leading to a feasibility study that found it would benefit the area and a 20-year Authority Master Plan, approved by the FAA, which includes it.
Stimpson welcomed news of the vote.
“I’ve often said that moving the commercial airport downtown is one of the most transformational opportunities we have for the City of Mobile,” he said. “Today’s announcement by MAA sets that opportunity in motion. For Mobilians, this means something we’ve talked about for years is no longer a dream and no longer theoretical. There will be commercial flights out of the Brookley Airport in downtown Mobile by Summer of 2024. The construction of this downtown terminal will bring lower fares, more direct flights, increased tourism, greater economic development opportunities and a more convenient air travel option for our entire region.”
“I’m looking forward to cutting the ribbon,” Maisel said after the contract was approved without opposition.
The core cost of the new terminal and parking deck at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley has previously been estimated at about $160 million. MAA President Chris Curry said Thursday that the $250 million figure includes such things as the relocation of some current Brookley tenants, the expansion of runway aprons, and infrastructure such as the expansion of nearby roads. HPM, which has an established office on Perimeter Road at the Brookley Aeroplex, will oversee all of it.
The value of the HPM contract is around 2% of the expected total. “If we go with the base-level services of the contract we’re at about $4.6 million,” Curry said, “but there are some optional items within the contract that we could need and we have allowances for that would make it roughly $5 million.”
The federal funding that will pay for the bulk of the work hasn’t yet been locked down, but Curry said that’s often the case.
“It’s not in place but it’s coming together very quickly,” he said. “Most projects of this magnitude, when they start, they typically do not have all the funding pieces in place. However we feel confident enough that we can start it understanding we will obtain the funding to complete the project.”
The new terminal also has yet to be designed, and Maisel challenged Airport Authority board members to start thinking about that part of the process.
“We need to form in our minds not only what functionally the layout of this terminal will be, but what it will look like, how the appearance of it will convey to not only our citizens but for the visitors that come to Mobile what our city is,” said Maisel. “So please be thinking about that. What’s the picture in your mind of what this will look like? … What does this thing feel like, what does it look like? It’s very important. This is a thing will be standing here for 100 years.”
Maisel said that the COVID-19 pandemic had delayed plans for MAA representatives to visit modern airports to get ideas about design elements. Curry said those “field trips” will happen, and that the design process would involve gathering a lot of input.
“I think that it’d very important for the terminal, both the exterior and the interior, to reflect a sense of place,” Curry said. “And so I don’t think that can be determined by any one group of people. I think as we move through this process we’ll have a collaborative effort with the counties, with the city, and come up with something that really reflects this area.”
Curry said the new terminal will be designed to meet the standards required for it to be designated an international airport. But some other fundamental elements remain open to change, he said. MAA officials have decided it should have five gates rather than the initial four, and that’s subject to further consideration.
“We’re trying to build the terminal initially so that it’s right-sized for what we have today,” he said. “However, as we move along through this 36-month process, if we get more airline interest for expansion for that new terminal facility, you may very well see us go from a five- to a six-gate scenario,” he said. “As we go into this project, we remain flexible, because a lot can happen in the next three years.”
When the terminal becomes operational, commercial passenger traffic will shift from Mobile Regional Airport in west Mobile to Brookley. Backers of the swap believe that Brookley’s proximity to downtown, its relative ease of access for Baldwin County customers and its easy interstate access will make Mobile more competitive with the airports in other regional cities.
Curry said that he expects to see major site work begin in 2022, after about a year of preliminary work to clear the way for construction. The current target for completion is July or August of 2024.
“We’re on a very aggressive 36-month schedule,” he said. “That’s very aggressive, but we think that we can meet that.”