During the week of January 22nd, funding for a new terminal at John Glenn International Airport in Columbus was approved.
In an article published by NBC4 Aaron Burd writes, “The board of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority voted last week to approve $250 million in funding for the project, which was unveiled in August and is expected to cost $2 billion in total” (January 29th).
Aaron Burd describes where the new terminals will be built in the NBC4 article, writing, “Renderings call for a 36-gate terminal to be constructed where the cellphone lot and Blue Lot for long-term parking currently sit. In addition, a parking garage would be built on the site of the McDonald’s at 4250 International Gateway, bringing both closer to the rental car center that opened in 2021” (January 29th).
Burd writes in the same article that the area served by the airport is expected to have a growth in population, reaching around 3.15 million people by 2050 (January 29th). In the article, Burd quotes airport officials that acknowledge this, saying that the new terminal would be able to “accommodate that level of growth” (January 29th).
In a separate article published by NBC4 on August 14, 2023 Sarah Donaldson writes that this growth was part of the reason John Glenn International Airport decided to build a new terminal instead of just renovating the old one.
In the aforementioned article, Donaldson explains another reason the airport decided to build a new terminal, quoting a fact sheet released by John Glenn International Airport and writing, “Although the terminal has been renovated before, the ‘core’ of the terminal and some of its assets and systems ‘are nearing the end of useful life,’ according to the fact sheet” (August 14th, 2023).
Aaron Burd states in an article published by NBC4 that construction on the terminal is expected to start in early 2025 and the new terminal should be open for use by early 2029 (January 29th).
