Philadelphia Airport Construction: Dust Begins To Clear
<H1>Philadelphia Airport Construction: Dust Begins To Clear</H1>By Tom Belden
<I>Philadelphia </I>- About a year and a half ago, travelers took away only bad memories and an unwanted souvenir from a visit to Philadelphia International Airport.
The memento was a fine dust that stuck to shoes and cuffs, caused by a seemingly endless construction project that had floors torn apart, wires dangling from ceilings and unsightly plywood construction walls throughout most of the terminal.
Today in contrast, Philadelphia aviation officials are hearing one compliment after another as they unveil a steady stream of improvements at what for years has been considered one of the nation's most maligned and bedraggled airports.
Not only is the construction dust gone, but terrazzo floors throughout the airport look like a marine's spit-shined boots. New flight-information display monitors have been installed, as well as permanent direction and information signage.
The improvements are part of more than $1 billion in investment in the airport's terminals and airfield taking place over a dozen years and scheduled for completion about the turn of the century. Most of the work was already under way when Philadelphia aviation director Mary Rose Loney arrived in mid-1993 from the number-two job at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport to take charge. What Loney promised to do was finish the construction work so that both travelers and employees would have a better attitude about the place.
"I'm really, really pleased with where we are," Loney said. "I think we've gotten the public's confidence. There's a new attitude here, both on the part of the employees and the way the public sees us."
Some of the most welcome changes have come in what's for sale besides airline tickets. National and regional food purveyors, including Au Bon Pain and Bain's Deli, plus six different gourmet coffee vendors, have opened outlets, mostly with lower prices than what had been charged for the nondescript fare previously on sale.
Newsstands with signs boasting "customer-friendly pricing" and a larger array of merchandise are in operation. Three dozen moveable carts selling a variety of snack food, beverages and other products are in scattered locations throughout the airport, with the majority concentrated in USAir's B and C concourses.
In addition, four stretches of moving sidewalk-the first Philadelphia International has ever had-began running this past fall. While the basic layout of the airport hasn't changed-meaning long walks still are required between gates and baggage-claim areas for most passengers-the moving walkways have reduced some of the burden. The most welcome one is in the lower level of Concourse A, where deplaning international passengers previously faced a quarter-mile hike. Two more moving sidewalks span concourses D and E, linking parking and baggage claim areas to arrival and departure gates; the fourth walkway is between concourses A and B.
Still to come is the biggest construction job of all, a $90 million project (part of the $1 billion total) that will unite USAir's far-flung facilities in the B and C concourses. What are now separate bag claim and ticketing areas in the two concourses will be combined.
Today, passengers connecting through USAir's hub who have to switch between the B and C concourses must exit through security, hike several hundred yards and re-enter through another security checkpoint. That cumbersome process will be eliminated by the overhaul, with connecting passengers staying inside the secured area and passing through a mini-mall of retail shops and a food court. A two-stage moving sidewalk, with a break in the middle for those who want to get off and shop or eat, will link the rebuilt concourses. A level above the moving sidewalk, USAir plans to install its largest members-only USAir Club. The project is scheduled for completion in 1997.
Key to the improvements already made was replacing Aramark, the Philadelphia-based institutional food-service company, as the airport's retail concessionaire.
A new 15-year management contract was signed a year ago with Marketplace Development/Redwood Advisory, a joint venture of a Boston retail developer and a Philadelphia shopping center manager. Marketplace was in charge of the retail development at Boston's South Station and has contracts to manage retail space at Chicago's O'Hare and New York's LaGuardia airports. Redwood operates The Shops at Liberty Place, an upscale mall in downtown Philadelphia.
Most of the food and merchandise currently is sold from temporary locations. However, that will begin changing this year when permanent stores recessed into the walls of the concourses will open, Loney said. Included among the new restaurants will be one operated by a major national fast-food company. Loney won't reveal the name of the operator yet; however, he said it won't be McDonalds.