http://www.burbankleader.com/news/tn-blr-new-terminal-plan-revealed-for-bob-hope-airport-20130920,0,7593604.story
By Daniel Siegal, September 20, 2013
A Southwest Airlines plane takes off as the airline celebrates its 20th anniversary at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank on April 15, 2010. Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority revealed their plan for a new 14-gate terminal this week.
The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority revealed its plan for a new 14-gate terminal this week.
In a pair of meetings held Monday morning and evening,
airport officials presented their vision for a new, larger terminal,
meant to replace the airport’s current 83-year-old building.
“We are being totally transparent with you saying it’s
going to be a bigger building,” Authority Commissioner Susan Georgino
told attendees at the Monday night meeting.
That space would
be used to add features such as disability accessibility, more
restrooms, more waiting areas, expanded security screening facilities
and better baggage claims.
Airport officials say a new terminal is needed because the
current building is too close to the runways — 250 feet instead of the
required 750 feet — to meet Federal Aviation Administration safety standards.
The proposed terminal would keep the same number of gates,
but would lose the “L” shape of the current building in favor of a
symmetrically configured rectangularly shaped terminal.
The new terminal would be placed to the east of the
airport’s north-south runway, and the old terminal would be demolished,
with that space being used to expand the runway taxi areas.
Due to provisions in Measure B, which was approved by
Burbank voters in 2000, finalized plans for a new terminal must be
approved by residents at the polls.
Burbank resident Mike Nolan said at the Monday evening
meeting he thought the Airport Authority should have presented more
details on the exact size and location of the proposed terminal.
“I’m disappointed that you’re having this meeting now and
we can’t get definitive answers,” he said. “People want to know where
new terminal is going to be, what’s the footprint.”
Airport Executive Director Dan Feger said that more
details will be presented at the next study session on the new terminal,
to be held on Sept. 26, and will be made plain before the airport
starts its environmental review process.
The environmental review is slated to begin at the end of the year, and to be completed in early 2015.
Nolan said the authority needs to provide specific information on the new terminal if it wants to succeed.
“If you listen to my concerns you will work to get
credibility from the public, which will be essential for you to pull
this off,” he said.
More information: In addition to the
September 26 meeting, to held at the Burbank Marriott at 5:30 p.m, the
Burbank City Council will host a town hall meeting about the project at
Burbank Middle School on October 1 at 7 p.m.
To learn more about the meetings or to submit a question or comment about the process, visit the airport’s website, www.burbankairport.com, and select the link “The Future of the Airport: Ground Transportation and Land Use Study.”