b'56 LNK TERMINALSThe airport added larger, more accessible restrooms.Ilvonen, his colleague at Alliiance, counsels airport operators against cobbling projects together over many years without a long-term vision. Even small improvements should align with future expansion goals, he cautions. Petrick says it is critical to reconfirm budgets before a project begins, as predictions for price escalation may not have been accurate. Construction costs have risen in recent years due to the pandemic, and most recently, construction cost inflation exceeded general economic inflation, he specifies. Expanding or renovating an occupied terminal requires a clear plan for alternative routes and space adjustments to maintain Richter, from Sampson Construction,As an architect and project designer,operations, Petrick adds. The key is to emphasizes the benefits of putting togetherFrenzel puts stock in the power ofremain flexible and open to less-than-ideal the right team and hiring a constructionbenchmarking. He says airports tendtemporary solutions to allow the permanent manager early in the process. Setto get siloed in their own operations,changes and improvements to occur.milestone goals that are measurable andbut LNK benefited from remaining openBarth emphasizes the value of getting achievable, then track that you are meetingto ideas and comparisons with otherlocal input. To that end, Lincoln Airport them, he advises. If you arent, figure outoperations. Theyve been willing to dig Authority Executive Director David Haring why, make adjustments and work towardin and study everything we suggested,assembled a community group called The the next milestone. he relates. Voice, which provided insight about what changes they wanted. The airport also held several open houses so community members could see the early design plans. In retrospect, she is grateful that LNKs terminal expansion lasted only two years. I feel like ours was about the perfect amount of time because youre still able to get people excited and intertwine events, like the open houses in between phases, but the staff didnt get fatigued as much as I would imagine with a 10-year project.For the design team, working with an airport that was open to new ideas made all the difference. I cant say enough good things about the administration at Lincoln Airport, Frenzel says. The greatest opportunity we have as designers is a client that is open to our suggestions, and they listened. That approach led to features like larger, more accessible restrooms. While companion care areas and adult changing rooms are not yet mandated, Alliiance anticipates they will be in the near future. Thanks to its recent project and forward-thinking strategy, LNK will already be compliant. September 2024AirportImprovement.com'