Metro Airport May Demolish Two Terminals

DETROIT-While the $1.2 billion Midfield Terminal project is more than halfwaycompleted for Northwest Airlines, the administrators at Detroit MetropolitanAirport are considering plans to demolish two of the three terminals and build anew.

The terminals at the large airport in Romulus are the Smith,Davey Terminal (currently occupied by the dominant Northwest) and the BerryInternational Terminal.When Northwest vacates Davey at the end of 2001, airport administrators areconsidering plans to either take out half of the straight, finger-typeconcourses to make it easier on taxiing planes, or follow a new idea anddemolish Smith and Davey and build hub-style concourses.

“The first plan doesn’t make the best arrangement for the carriers. We arelooking at a very preliminary plan to build new facilities,” says MikeConway, an airport spokesman.The new plan would add about a dozen more gates than the original renovationplan, he says. Since the plan is in the design stage, there are no realcost estimates yet, he notes.

Wayne County administrators, who run the airport, believe it might cost atleast $250 million to complete the renovation plan. A bond issue, or a fewdollars of added costs for every passenger, could fund the improvements,Conway says. All the airlines at Detroit Metro must agree to whatever planis accepted.