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City OKs $13.3 million Dayton airport contract

Messer Construction Co. wins deal to extend terminal and remake lobby area.

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer 10:00 PM Wednesday, December 23, 2009

DAYTON — Messer Construction Co. received City Commission approval on Wednesday, Dec. 23, for a $13.3 million contract to handle an extensive project that will extend Dayton International Airport’s terminal building, remake the ticketing lobby and remove baggage screening machines from the lobby to a location behind the wall.

The project, supported in part by $5 million from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, includes installation of a new, fully automatic baggage screening system. It once again will allow air travelers to leave their bags with agents at ticketing counters, who will put the bags on a conveyor to be screened in a new, walled-off space to be built onto the terminal building. Airport operating revenues and ticket-surcharge fees collected by airlines are to cover the rest of the project’s cost.

Messer’s proposal included an $11.4 million base bid plus add-ons that the city accepted, including paneling to cover wiring through support columns for ticketing self-service kiosks; a skylight over a planned, new seating area in the lobby, and an area where the automatic screening system can route luggage whose tags cannot be automatically read.

Messer, a Cincinnati-based contractor with a Kettering office, could be given the construction go-ahead in January 2010 after final details are completed, with work to be done in March 2011, said Iftikhar Ahmad, Dayton’s director of aviation.

With the recession and slowed demand for construction, the bids from Messer and competitors were well below the city’s initial project estimate of $20.7 million, Ahmad said.

The project includes extending the terminal building by 30 feet; installing new ticketing counters and background walls; adding two passenger lanes to the security checkpoint for a total of six lanes, and relocating and installing additional self-service kiosks for travelers. The realignment should improve security monitoring by separating lines of travelers at ticket counters from unattended luggage, Ahmad said.

The City Commission also approved:

• A $210,000 contract for Wise Construction Co., Dayton, to relocate TSA offices at the airport terminal building.

• $600,000 to continue a cooperative agreement with the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce to market the airport to consumers and airlines.

• $110,000 for the Chamber of Commerce to continue operating a business traveler center in the terminal building.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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