The Colorado Springs Airport on Friday opened the first phase of a modernization project to change the interior look of the concourse built in 1995.
"We can't be more thrilled about how the first phase turned out," said COS Aviation Director Gregory Phillips, standing in the first of eight planned phases of interior remodeling as part of the ElevateCOS project. The first two gate areas to the right of the concourse were outfitted with new carpet, gate desks and other design elements.
From red to blue: One of the more noticeable upgrades in the first part of the ElevateCOS project is the carpet at the Colorado Springs Airport.
"We determined that the design language would be modern mountain design," said interior architect on the project Cindy Senger of Colorado Springs based Senger Design Group. Senger worked with Nunn Construction and HB&A Architects to complete the first phase.
The project is to be split into eight phases moving from one gate to the next as the airport continues to function. Phillips said that the project would last three years.
"It's fast approaching 30 years old, and the concourse has never had a significant upgrade," said Phillips.
The $36 million project is funded through Federal Aviation Administration grant dollars and airport revenue, according to the project website. COS joins 100 other airports granted funds for upgrades through the Federal Aviation Administration and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
COS is not just updating the look of the concourse. Phillips said that the two major goals of the project were improving energy efficiency and accessibility for passengers.
Phillips said that with both the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center and a large community of veterans with disabilities calling the city home, Colorado Springs had a responsibility to make travel more accessible.
"Colorado Springs should be a leader in accessibility, not just following the pack," he said.
To that end, the new concourse will have an active listening system, a technology that uses copper wire running along the floor to amplify sound for the hearing-impaired. The project is also bringing gate counters and bathrooms up to Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.
Diana Stoddard, airport design and construction manager, said that the project would also be updating the concourse's HVAC and installing energy-efficient windows and lights. She said that the project would bring energy efficiency as close as possible to U.S. Green Building Council certification guidelines.
She said that the airport was also recycling much of the construction materials and waste from the project.
While the ElevateCOS project just remodels the existing space of the airport, Stoddard said an expansion is possibly on the horizon as the city grows. She said that the airport would be undertaking a terminal study in the next couple of years to measure activity. A current expansion plan sees the terminal adding a Y-shaped branch to the north, doubling its capacity.
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