http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/airportbre_724.mp3
This morning, city and county officials broke ground at the site of the new Midfield Terminal at Springfield Branson National Airport. KSMU's Missy Shelton reports.
Wednesday morning, city and county officials broke ground at the site of the new Midfield Terminal at Springfield Branson National Airport.
City Councilman Ralph Manley was on hand for the ceremony.
Last year, about 888 thousand passengers used the existing terminal.
The airport's Director of Aviation Gary Cyr says the new terminal will have the capacity to accommodate up to 1 point 2 million passengers each year.
The new terminal is slated to open in April, 2009 and will cost approximately 119 million dollars to construct.
Cyr says funding for the terminal will come from various sources.
The airport has received 7 point 8 million dollars in federal transportation money through legislation sponsored by Senator Kit Bond and House Majority Whip Roy Blunt.
Cyr says the terminal will have eight gates but it's being built with room to accommodate future growth...He says it will be possible to expand the Midfield Terminal as needed.
The new terminal will allow passengers to get to the ticket counter and gates without going up or down flights of stairs.
Raeanne Presley, chairman of the airport's board of directors says there are a number of problems with the existing terminal because it's not able to keep up with growing numbers of passengers.
Presley says the board did a study that showed it would be 20 percent cheaper to build a new terminal rather than expand the existing one.