By Michael Somerby EBS DIGITAL EDITOR
BOZEMAN – Bozeman Yellowstone
International Airport plans
to add approximately 70,000 square feet to the existing concourse by the summer
of 2020. This increase seeks to accommodate a steady growth in annual
passengers, reflecting a rise in tourism and residency in the Gallatin Valley
and surrounding areas.
The
last expansion occurred 10 years ago when the Gallatin Airport Authority
approved developments to accommodate up to 1.5 million passengers annually,
more than double the levels seen at that point time, according to a Feb. 25 GAA
statement. The airport expects to meet that 1.5 million threshold in 2019.
Brian
Sprenger has worked at the Bozeman airport for 36 years, originally on the
airline side of the industry, and then for airport itself. Looking back now, as
airport director for the last 10 years, he never thought the scope of these
expansions would be possible.
“It’s
way, way beyond what we imagined, what this place would become,” Sprenger told
EBS in a Feb. 26 interview. “Many of us knew Bozeman [Yellowstone International
Airport] was a strong growth airport, but no one expected the amount of growth
and this rate of growth.”
GAA
selected the Bozeman-based engineering consultant
Morrison-Maierle, Comma-Q Architecture and general contractor Martel
Construction, Inc., along with the nationally recognized Reynolds, Smith &
Hills architecture, engineering and consulting firm to undertake the scheduled
concourse additions.
Neither
local nor state taxes will fund the $27 million project, a principal the
airport has operated on and used to expand for more than 30 years. Instead, a
combination of financing from GAA’s capital improvement fund and Airport
Improvement Program grants will pay for the expansion.
According
to Sprenger, construction will begin almost immediately with Martel
Construction breaking ground by the end of March.
Tony
Martel, president of the eponymous company, suggests the project will have a
positive impact on the Bozeman and Gallatin Valley job market, creating an estimated
500 direct and indirect jobs over the course of the construction.
“This expansion, much like the previous ones, will maintain the
style and décor of previous expansions welcoming friends, family, and visitors
to our amazing community,” said Carl Lehrkind IV, board chairman of the Gallatin
Airport Authority, in the statement.
Sprenger echoed Lehrkind’s sentiment, noting that all new food
vendors and shops in the concourse will feature Montana products and Montana
ownership, a continuation of the status quo at the Bozeman airport.
“We feel that people travel to Montana because there are things
here that can’t be found elsewhere,” Sprenger said. “The same is true for goods
purchased in Montana. They don’t come here to buy things that aren’t from Montana,
things they could buy anywhere else.”
This
expansion, and the spatial demands driving it, is emblematic of the explosive
growth seen in countless sectors and communities around Gallatin County. In
Sprenger’s opinion, there is plenty of growth yet unseen.
“If
this is any indication of where it’s headed, it’s bound to get even crazier.”
