Project Gateway’s Project One ready for takeoff at QC airport

The Quad Cities International Airport celebrated a ceremonial groundbreaking today to launch the first phase of a multi-year construction master plan known as Project Gateway that will invest tens of millions of dollars in the QCIA. Quad Cities elected officials, state and federal lawmakers, construction and trades representatives, and business and community leaders crowded into […]

The Quad Cities International Airport celebrated a ceremonial groundbreaking today to launch the first phase of a multi-year construction master plan known as Project Gateway that will invest tens of millions of dollars in the QCIA.

Quad Cities elected officials, state and federal lawmakers, construction and trades representatives, and business and community leaders crowded into an empty building in the secure area of the airport on Thursday, April 4, to hear more about the overall $40 million-$60 million project that will get its start this month with the $18 million phase known as Project One.  QCIA Executive Director Benjamin Leischner said, “Project GATEWAY will transform the public side of our airport, which has reached the end of its useful life. With safety, passenger experience and the pride we have for being the Quad Cities’ hometown airport in mind, we will take the necessary steps to modernize the air travel experience for people traveling to the Quad Cities, and for those who call it home.” Also on hand to celebrate Project One’s impending takeoff were U.S. Rep. Eric Sorenson, D-Moline, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield. “My home is seven minutes from this airport,” Mr. Sorensen said. “I can tell you from personal experience how much it means to me as well as communities on both sides of the river.” He added, “Because my work in Congress depends on me being here for my neighbors in Illinois but also solving their problems in Washington, D.C., I use this airport almost every week.”

Building past useful life

Mr. Durbin said that because the building to be updated is more than 40 years old, it has passed “the useful life of most buildings and certainly one that is used as much as that terminal.”

He also celebrated the commitment to Project Gateway "because it means local jobs, local contributions and after a little bit of back and forth during construction, you're going to have a beautiful terminal and an efficient terminal and that’s important for us as well.”  When construction begins this month on Phase One using funding that Mr. Durbin helped secure, it will mark the first time the land side of the terminal – the area prior to the terminal’s security checkpoint – has been updated since 1985, according to QCIA. 

Changes planned for the customer- and visitor-facing area will include removing security screening equipment from the ticketing lobby and modernizing airline ticket counters. While today’s event celebrated the startup of the project, the planning effort goes back to 2021 when Project Gateway was first envisioned, Mr. Leischner said.  That name was chosen, he said, because of QCIA’s role “as a gateway to the Quad Cities for visitors, as a gateway to the Midwest and as a gateway for citizens to engage in global travel and commerce.”

Planning began in 2021

For more than two years, the airport team has been working behind the scenes to establish goals and create a roadmap to help achieve a mission that, Mr. Leischner said, is “focused on creating a modern transportation facility that keeps functionality, efficiency and customer experience at its core.” Mortenson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Project Gateway's general contractor, will work with the QCIA and a team of Quad Cities subcontractors including Bush Construction to make it happen. “Mortenson is excited for the launch of this initial phase of Project Gateway,” the company’s Market Executive Randy Clarahan told the crowd. Though his company‘s home office is an hour away from the airport in Moline, for him the work is personal. “I called the Quad Cities home for 20 years,” he told the crowd. “I raised my kids here in the Quad Cities; I know how important this Quad Cities airport is to families, to businesses, to getting around, so I’m thrilled to be a part of that.” He’s also said he’s pleased to be working with the airport’s talented staff and the Quad Cities talented contractors and trades to make it happen.

Oldest QCIA parts targeted

The first phase of the project includes modernizing the oldest parts of the airport’s passenger facility. “The nonsecure side of the airport was last updated in 1985 prior to the establishment of TSA, the invention of the roll aboard suitcase, and the Americans with Disability Act,” Mr. Leischner said. "To put it another way, the building has reached the end of its useful life and no longer meets passenger needs and expectations the way a modern transportation facility should.” To remove the TSA screening equipment from the lobby, a new 14,600-square-foot facility will be built, Mr. Leischner said. That new structure “will include screening requirements, automatic baggage conveyance, drive lanes for airline baggage carts and parking spaces for ground service equipment that have until now been mostly exposed to the Midwest often unforgiving weather, which we can attest to the past couple of days,” Mr. Leischner said. In addition, inside airline ticket counters will no longer be partitioned by walls. That allows for baggage belts behind the counters to seamlessly feed into TSA screening outside of public view. Those changes, he said, will make the screening process more secure and increase efficiency for airline ground entities.

Sleek, modern spaces

At the same time, he said, “The public will enjoy sleek modern finishes that will provide much-needed facelift to each of the airline’s spaces.” The space also will include “carefully curated” finishes that will boast “the modern industrial, cozy and accessible feeling that the Quad Cities has.” Future projects include replacing the brick floor, creating a curbside canopy, updating restrooms, adding companion care restrooms and nursing rooms, relocating the public meeting space and board room to a new location for better public access, and creating an indoor/outdoor observation space. Passenger impact should be minimal throughout Project One. Delta’s ticketing counter has temporarily relocated next to American. The checked bag drop off for TSA screening will be on the far east end of the lobby, just before turning to go to the security checkpoint.  The entirety of Project One is expected to last 13 months.  For more information, visit https://www.qcairport.com/project-gateway/.