January/February 2023 - 29

COVER STORY
ORIGINALLY BUILT in 1972, Kansas City International
Airport (MCI) was comprised of three terminals, featuring
two horseshoe-shaped buildings - each 2,200
linear feet by 72 feet deep. However, 50 years after
being built, the terminal was in need of an update.
To overcome a lack of efficiencies
posed by the original airport's
design, a new terminal at MCI has
been constructed.
" When you put the security in the
middle and then you have all the
baggage claim systems, the security
systems, the different amenities within
the hold rooms ... you really don't
have enough seats, you don't have
enough restrooms, you don't have
enough amenities where the customers
want them, " said Patrick Klein,
Kansas City Aviation Director. " The
building's, basically, 36 feet on one
side of security and 36 on the other, so
it really becomes structurally deficient
with the setup of the building. "
This new terminal fixes that, boasting
1 million square feet, 39 gates and
a new parking garage with 6,200
covered spaces. It is the city's largest
single infrastructure project and the
first terminal update in 50 years.
" It puts everything where everybody
wants it, and allows a real
efficient movement of passengers,
and movement for the airlines, and
it should bring a much better travel
experience for all our passengers and
anybody connecting through Kansas
City, " said Klein.
The new design, slotted to open
February 28, features one terminal
(instead of the three) and is comprised
of 39 glass boarding bridges
- the most all-glass boarding bridges
in the United States - more than 50
concession areas with 80 percent being
locally-based in Kansas City, and $5.7
million of public art from 28 different,
international artists with 75 percent of
those having ties to Kansas City.
" One of the most exciting things
we did in Kansas City with our new
" Cloud " art, positioned over moving
walkways.
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA MARSH
terminals is our public art process, "
said Klein. " It's the largest single art
project that we've also had in this city,
along with the largest infrastructure
project. We've had 28 locations that
we've set up. We had a public process
that we went through to pick those
locations in the design and worked
with the designers to pick the locations
that have the biggest impact. We had
nine bigger projects within there, and
then we've got about 19 concourse arts
where there's a 4-foot by 20-foot wall
where local artists have put their art. "
The nine big projects were done
through a national search.
" There were over 1,800 submissions
for the 28 locations that we looked
at, " said Klein. " We had local artists
and local art professionals make the
selections. Then, when we made our
wall art selections for those 19, we
had a national committee come in
and they selected local artists in the
region for those wall art installations.
You'll see a good mix of national wellknown
artists along with exposing our
local artists to the world through our
public art process, and we're really
proud of that. "
The new terminal has been outfitted
with the latest in technology,
including smart restrooms which
feature sensors in the soap and towel
dispensers. Each restroom stall has a
heat sensor that determines if a stall
is empty or occupied. This technology
eliminates the guesswork when
searching for an available stall by indicating
occupancy with a red (occupied)
or green (empty) light above
each stall.
Special attention was also given to
the design, ensuring both men's and
women's restrooms had designated
baby care areas in addition to private
changing suites for travelers needing
a change of clothes.
" We were very intent ional
about making sure the restrooms
were designed well, " said Justin
Meyer, Kansas City Aviat ion
Department Deputy Director of
Aviation Marketing and Air Service
Development. " Every restroom stall
door swings out and each stall has
multiple hooks for purses and bags.
Each restroom, regardless of gender,
has an infant changing area. There are
family restrooms located throughout
the entire facility, with two of the
family restrooms having universal
changing tables. Located near the
center of each concourse is a multi-user,
all-gender restroom. "
The outside view of the new parking
garage featuring an illuminated sign.
More Parking
The new parking garage, adjacent to
the terminal, features 6,200 covered
parking spaces and is comprised of
seven levels. Each level features 7.5
acres of space.
" There is the smart guidance system,
there's a valet system through it. In
the bottom two levels, there'll be a
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 29
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January/February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2023
