The $45 million redesign of Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport will begin in late August. Ever since Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the renovations during a State of the State speech in January, airport officials have been fine tuning plans to update the airport’s terminal, with construction expected to start in late-August.
“The first phase will be demolition of the canopy structure that exists between the terminal and the garage is scheduled to come down at the end of summer,” said Christina Callahan, executive director of the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority. “That will result in closing the road between the terminal and the garage for about a three month period while contractors relocate utilities and remove the canopy structure.”
The redesign of the airport will also include new facade, and a glass pedestrian bridge. The entire project is expected to be finished by September 2018. That may not be the end to work at the airport. Callahan says discussions are underway now about the future of the airport's parking garage.
“Do we invest money in the existing structure, incorporating a lot of the customer service enhancements we know passengers want, and give ourselves another 20-25 years? Or do we build a new facility in a different location? That is something we are actively discussing,” she said.
Most of the funding is coming from New York state. This week, the airport was awarded more than $4 million in grant funding for the terminal project, as well as to renovate two restrooms to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
