Airport adding improvements to lobby, baggage claim

More upgrades are being planned for the Sioux Falls Regional Airport including a renovated baggage claim area and improvements to the look of the lobby.

TSP presented the Airport Authority with several concepts Thursday designed to give the airport a more updated, uniform look.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to freshen up the entire airport so you don't feel like walking through the lobby it's a really nice space, and then you go down a hallway and it's like you've gone back in time 30 or 40 years," said Michelle Holter, an associate and architect at TSP who worked on the project.

TSP designed an enlarged checkpoint area that will start construction later this year and involve replacing the airport's moving ramp with escalators and a set of stairs.

"We wanted to change the feel as people were walking into the airport and really open it up compared to what's there now," Holter said.

The new checkpoint also will increase from two to four lanes and can be expanded to six lanes.

"With the new risk-based screening programs that TSA has, it's not just lining people up waiting to get screened," airport executive director Dan Letellier said. "You do need to be able to differentiate with folks what screening lane to be in, and to do that really required a lot more work."

It also required moving the airport's administrative suite and redoing an elevator, which will have a glass front when it's done.

The remodeled areas also are designed to bring in more color and texture to the airport and carry the theme through from ticketing to baggage claim.

"One of the big goals we heard from the airport and the board members was they wanted to bring in a sense of warmth and welcome for passengers," Holter said. "We're bringing in some wood-feeling elements and a blue color that you've seen in the restaurant on the main floor … and just bringing in more earth tones than the white walls you see there now."

The design also calls for more skylights and artwork.

"It's a complicated building," Holter said. "There have been so many construction projects over the years, so creating the unity is challenging, but we're having fun doing it."

The checkpoint project and other improvements around the airport are budgeted for almost $9 million.

"There are certainly options … to update the look and really tie it all together," Letellier said.