<FONT SIZE="+3"><B> Airport Adds Facilities</B>
By Rowland Stiteler
<I>Atlanta </I>- The latest addition to Hartsfield International Airport has been targeting visitors to the Atlanta Olympics, but thousands of everyday travelers are expected to benefit from it in the long run.
The new facility is a $24 million, four-story atrium that connects the north and south terminals. Architecture critics already are raving about the new glass structure, and air travelers tired of overpriced hot dogs and coffee in plastic foam cups are probably raving even more about the food court's new gourmet-oriented franchises, which opened recently.
The atrium features a number of upscale eateries, including a Creole restaurant and specialty shops like the Buckhead Bread Co., where travelers can pick up a loaf of freshly baked French bread to take home or munch on during their next flight.
The new shopping area, whose centerpiece is a two-story clock tower, is modeled on the shopping malls found in affluent suburbs and will have about 40 shops, including a golf pro shop, a hair salon, a dry cleaning service and a bank. There also is an interfaith chapel and a business center.
An airport spokesman said the atrium is part of a $500 million upgrade of facilities at the busy airport. All of the renovations and expansions were polished off by the Summer Olympics. Indeed, Delta Airlines had opened eight refurbished gate areas and added gate-area renovations in time for the Olympics.
The new 225,000-square-foot terminal atrium opened in the fall, but most of its shops and food franchises did not open until near the end of last year.
The spokesman said it was necessary to open the new facilities in phases, rather than all at once, because doing the latter would have required closing the entire facility and disrupting foot traffic between the north and south terminals.
The new atrium includes several new concessions, including a Gumbo Shop, a Wendy's, a Domino's Pizza franchise, a Sunglass Hut, an Edy's Ice Cream shop, a Medics Drug Mart, a Houlihan's restaurant, a post office, a bank, a shoe and luggage repair shop, a bath and toiletries shop, an apparel store and two newsstands.
The airport spokesman said prices at the new restaurants and shops are competitive with those at similar businesses around the metro Atlanta area.
In fact, major airports around the nation have been moving toward more economical pricing after surveys showed travelers were becoming increasingly intolerant of paying hiked-up prices at airport shops.
A business center, on the second and third floors of the new facility, offers services like quick printing and faxing, as well as meeting and conference rooms.
Last year, Delta and American Airlines both opened new gates targeted to the business traveler. The gates, in what was formerly an international flight section called the T Concourse, offer easy access to parking, ground transportation and baggage claims, a Delta spokesman said.
The gates also feature another new option at Hartsfield International-smoking rooms. The entire airport, including restaurants and lounge areas, has been smoke-free since 1994, but the new smoking lounges at the Delta and American gates are the beginning of a construction project that will add enclosed smoking areas throughout the big airport.
Other renovations completed at the airport have included a $10 million upgrade of Concourses A and B; a $25 million parking deck expansion that will add about 7,500 parking spaces; a $2 million expansion of the international baggage claim facility; and an upgrade of the underground train system that connects the various concourses. A $350 million international terminal facility, Concourse E, was completed as well.