News of the return of passenger service at the Gary/Chicago International Airport is still in a holding pattern, but its director said Wednesday negotiations were ongoing and hopefully an announcement will come soon.
At its monthly meeting, the airport authority approved eight contracts totaling $525,695 for renovation work at the passenger terminal that’s been dormant since Allegiant Airlines halted service in 2015.
Officials said the terminal hasn’t been updated since about 2001 and needed to be brought to new Transportation Security Administration standards.
An aerial view of the Gary/Chicago International Airport. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
Electrical work is needed for new screening equipment and two passenger bridges that escort passengers from their plane into the terminal in inclement weather need to be built.
The terminal’s renovation work includes HVAC work, flooring, painting, fire protection, plumbing, casework on cabinetry, drywall, and doors and hardware upgrades.
In July, officials said the work would continue into 2025.
The Gary-Chicago International Airport. (Post-Tribune file photo)
Executive director Dan Vicari said negotiations with commercial airlines were ongoing. He declined to identify the airlines, but said he hopes an announcement will come soon.
Vicari said TSA rules require a 90-day preparation period, once an airline commits to passenger service.
The authority also awarded $2,727,930 in contracts for work on a new airport-owned 47,000 square-foot $12 million hangar set to be leased to Wingtip Aviation in Valparaiso. The work includes fire protection, plumbing, HVAC and electric.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (right) listens to Dan Vicari, Executive Director of the Gary/Chicago International Airport (left) during a bus tour of the Gary/Chicago International Airport to view projects that are creating jobs and improving the airport’s cargo operations on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (John Smierciak / Post-Tribune)
That project’s completion date is May 2025.
Hasse Construction received a $1,768,205 contract for construction of a new airport-owned hangar and a hangar door to be leased by Sage-Popovich adjacent to its existing hangar.
Vicari also said a groundbreaking is tentatively slated for Oct. 8 on a new cargo ramp on the airport’s main runway. The United Parcel Service uses the airport for cargo service and Vicari said he’s negotiating with other cargo services, as well.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune
