The Arlington City Council is set this week to approve financing for a new $4.5 million terminal building at the municipal airport.
The two-story, 11,000-square-foot building is expected to open before the 2011 Super Bowl, which will be at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The council will decide Tuesday whether to issue $8.86 million in certificates of obligation to pay for the terminal’s construction.
The certificates, which don’t require voter approval, would be repaid over 20 years largely from property tax revenue. They would also finance a phone system and energy-efficiency upgrades for city buildings.
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The Arlington Municipal Airport generates about $100 million a year in economic activity for the city. The proposed terminal is one of several projects in the airport’s $83 million, 20-year master plan the council approved last year.
The building would replace the 7,700-square-foot, one-story terminal built in 1982 and provide a more welcoming impression to those flying into the city, officials said.
"This building is at the end of its useful life," Airport Manager Bob Porter said. "Right now, it’s so covered with trees and it’s plain and it sits so far in."
The new terminal, which would be closer to Collins Street, would feature a larger community room, a larger lobby to welcome passengers and more expensive office space for lease.
Architectural designs for the terminal could be released as soon as September.
The $1.15 billion Cowboys Stadium, in the entertainment district, has generated more jet traffic for the municipal airport.
When the stadium opened June 6 with a George Strait concert, 17 jets landed at the city airport, more than four times the jet traffic on a typical day.
Some of the terminal’s cost would be paid by a $600,000 state grant and interest earned from the airport’s natural gas revenue. The $3 million in energy-efficiency upgrades, which include new chillers and lighting, are expected to pay for themselves through energy cost savings, city staff said.