The $110 million expansion and renovation has reached completion

When ground was officially broken in the spring of 2001, it launched the three–phase project recommended in 1998 by a group of international airport consultants—Landrum & Brown—to accommodate booming growth in commercial air passenger traffic through Oklahoma City.

Among the critical goals of the expansion were to:

Relieve congestion in terminal ticketing areas, baggage claim facilities, departure lounges and passenger circulation aisles.

Reduce vehicle traffic congestion on terminal arrival and departure roads and improve visitor access to the terminal.

Create a new and appropriate architectural image for Oklahoma’s largest and busiest airport.

Improve retail prospects for shops and concessions within the terminal, while offering visitors more and better shopping and dining options.

Provide for cost-effective addition of airline gates as needed in the future.

With these goals in mind, the Oklahoma City Airport Trust in 1999 hired Atkins Benham, Inc. as the architect and engineer of record to design the new terminal, plan the course of events and provide construction oversight throughout the project. The plan involved several major considerations. The airport must continue to maintain full operations during construction—a key task in itself—and at the same time, ensure the safety and convenience of the traveling public at all times.

Phased Plan Controlled Effects of Construction on Travelers

PHASE I involved mostly preparatory work for the huge undertaking. Main tasks included:

Erection of construction walkways from the five-story parking garage to the terminal building.

Demolition of the terminal’s existing elevator core.

Construction of new elevator and escalator cores on the tunnel level and on level one.

Building temporary entrance and exit ramps for vehicles approaching and leaving the terminal.

Reconstruction of the roofs of the lower level and level one.

Finishing the elevator and escalator cores to level two.

Building new permanent entry and exit ramps for vehicles and construction of a new transportation plaza and driving lanes.

All of this work started in March 2001 and was completed in June 2002.

PHASE II started in November, 2001 with naming Boldt Construction Co. as general contractor. Highlights of this phase included construction of a new 666-foot-long concourse that stretches westward from the central terminal and extension of the existing central terminal by 30 feet to the north and by 60 feet to the south. Other major parts of Phase 11 included:

Construction of a new canopy over the expanded ticketing area.

Demolition and removal of the old Concourse B.

Building a new apron on the airside (south) of the central terminal.

Addition of modern jet bridges to accommodate regional jets in a style previously reserved for national big airplane carriers.

Design and installation of new baggage handling systems.

Completion of a lush plaza garden.

Relocation and reconstruction of the third-level administrative area.

Phase II was completed in November, 2006.

Phase III will eventually involve the extension of the concourse to the east for the addition of 11 new departure gates. This phase will start when further expansion of the terminal is needed.

The new terminal offers much, especially for the traveling public

The new terminal contains nearly 600,000 square feet of space (an increase of 71 percent), allowing the aisles, ticket lobbies, baggage claim areas and departure lounges to be more spacious. A soaring 53-foot ceiling in the concourse further enhances this sense of space, while acres of glass create an open feeling and yield excellent views of the surrounding prairie landscape, as well as of ambient aircraft activity.

New and expanded entry and exit traffic circles permit efficient passenger pickup and drop-off, even at peak travel periods. A stunning plaza garden presents a welcome scene for visitors and offers a venue for fresh air and relaxation. Visitors can view a heroic-size statue of Will Rogers, rope in hand, on his favorite horse, Teddy.

The new and improved tunnel from the parking garage to the terminal provides a well-lighted, safe, all-weather walkway that features convenient people-moving walks and ramps and opens onto the all-new central escalator core.

Architecture of the new building offers a dazzling first impression to visitors to Oklahoma City. The combination of native stone and plate glass presents an eye-pleasing aesthetic achievement and represents Oklahoma at its finest—an amalgam of modern technology and achievement with beautiful natural materials, grand geological features and broad, open sky. Even the new landscape materials are native grasses and trees, laid out in an intricate but informal design.

Location is an essential factor in the success of any retail business. In the new Will Rogers terminal, most retail merchants are now located inside security checkpoints, allowing passengers to arrive early, go through check-in and security procedures and still have shops and restaurants to engage them while they wait for boarding.

New retail concepts have been developed, also. Alongside the national news, gift and food outlets are Oklahoma-born and bred businesses like Sonic restaurant and other outlets that feature Oklahoma products and tastes.

Two security checkpoints have been designed into the concourse entryways, rather than superimposed on existing traffic flows. As a result, today’s tightened and enhanced security inspections can be done rather quickly, even when passenger volume is high.

The old terminal building featured two widely separated concourse entries, with a total of 16 airline passenger loading gates. The new structure has one continuous concourse with 18 loading gates.

Already in place is a design to lengthen that concourse and incorporate seven more loading gates when the demand is there.

There’s more to come to increase convenience for passengers. The airport’s outdated five-story parking garage will be demolished, and a new one—which meets modern criteria—will be constructed. To compensate for the temporary loss of indoor parking spaces during construction, a new outdoor lot will open to the north of existing long-term parking lots.

The entire project will enable cost-effective expansion in the future, as commercial aviation and the Oklahoma City economy grow together in the 21st century.