57 AirportImprovement.com September 2026 PASSENGER TRANSPORT GRR The second floor houses machinery that powers the equipment at the fueling islands: six vacuum pumps made by Autovac Inc. and four large air compressors from Ingersoll-Rand. It also has one dozen 2,000-gallon tanks that hold reclaimed water from the car wash bays, plus an array of piping that transports fuel and window-washing fluid to the first and third floors. Fuel is stored outside the facility in four above-ground 12,000-gallon tanks. “Building a facility like this takes a lot of pre-planning and a lot of coordination,” Snyder emphasizes. “There are a number of critical facets to it—it’s not just pouring concrete parking decks. There’s a tremendous amount of coordination going on behind the scenes.” Tip of the Iceberg The CONRAC is one of six major projects included in the airport’s $700+ million capital improvement program called ELEVATE. It was approved in 2019 in an effort to accommodate significant passenger growth at GRR and strong economic growth throughout the region, notes Ries. Aside from the CONRAC, the program includes: • The $120 million, 90,000-square-foot expansion of Concourse A that opened in 2024. It added eight gates and additional concessions. • Construction of a new air traffic control tower on the east side of the airfield to replace the 63-year-old tower currently connected to the terminal. The tower has been designed but construction is on hold, pending federal funding. Cost for the project is estimated at $60 million to $70 million. • A two-phase $160 million terminal enhancement program. Phase One, slated for completion late this fall, will expand and consolidate ticketing operations, with an individual carrier system for handling baggage. Phase Two will improve baggage claim and the process for incoming luggage. • A federal inspection station located between the terminal and CONRAC. Adding this U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility will enable GRR to offer non-stop international commercial passenger flights. • A six-story parking garage to replace the current north surface lot. Construction is contingent on relocating the current air traffic control tower. Connect. Collect. Predict. Upgrade your LED PAPIs with LINC Node for real-time system visibility. This IoT-enabled solution connects your PAPI to Airside Cloud, delivering continuous monitoring, predictive analytics, and proactive alerts. With CORTEX Service, you unlock predictive analytics, alerts, visualized with an intuitive PAPI Map and Cockpit view for remote monitoring anytime, anywhere. Boost airfield safety, cut inspection costs, and minimize runway closures—all in one smart upgrade. Secured Data Ingestion & Processing CORTEX Service Web Application PAPI IoT Gateway Cellular LPWA (2G fallback)
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