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Spokane International Airport receives $15 million grant to help expansion

This rendering shows how Concourse C will look at Spokane International Airport after the completion of the $150 million Terminal Renovation and Expansion Program. The airport recently received a $15 million grant that will go toward the project. (Courtesy of Spokane International Airport)
This rendering shows how Concourse C will look at Spokane International Airport after the completion of the $150 million Terminal Renovation and Expansion Program. The airport recently received a $15 million grant that will go toward the project. (Courtesy of Spokane International Airport)
By Thomas Clouse tomc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5495

The Spokane International Airport has received another $15 million in a federal grant to help pay for its ongoing $150 million Concourse C terminal expansion.

The airport broke ground in August on the project, which is the first significant terminal renovation and expansion to occur at the airport in more than two decades.

The money comes from a program that’s part of the overall Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Airport Terminals Program grant by the Federal Aviation Administration. The airport also received an $11 million grant last fall from the same program, said Larry Krauter, Spokane International Airport CEO.

“These are discretionary, competitive grants given out nationwide by airport-hub size,” Kratuer said. “We’ve done really well through the first rounds.

“It’s almost like getting twice the funding because that’s $15 million that we don’t have to finance with bonds.”

The project, Terminal Renovation and Expansion Program, or TREX, will add 144,000 square feet of space. It includes three new gates and six airline ticket counter locations in Terminal C.

On the east side of the concourse, current ground boarding gates will be replaced with three passenger loading bridges with upgrades to existing gates.

The terminal also will receive upgrades to its heating, venting and air conditioning system, in addition to security improvements, according to the airport.

Nancy Vorhees, Spokane Airport Board Chair, said in a news release that the grant gives planners more financial flexibility for future expansion.

“We are very thankful to Senator (Patty) Murray, Senator (Maria) Cantwell and Representative (Cathy) McMorris Rodgers for their advocacy to secure this grant and look forward to the next round of grant funding opportunity to continue to bring resources to fund these important capacity and efficiency improvements to our terminal buildings,” Vorhees said.

Construction is progressing at the airport with steel framing being put in place, Krauter said. The project is scheduled to be complete in 2025.

Krauter said the most recent grant comes from one of two different programs within the same Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Airport Terminals Program.

The airport also recently received a $6.4 million grant from a separate program called the Airport Infrastructure Grant, which can be used for terminal expansion.

The $11 million and $15 million grants came from a different program, called Airport Terminals Program. It split competitors into large hub airports, like Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and smaller hub airports like Spokane and non-hub airports like Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport.

“It’s really remarkable and important that we are able to receive this kind of funding through the Airport Terminals Program,” he said.

The airport is planning a future expansion, called Central Hall, that would join the airport’s two terminal buildings for the first time and unify the security checkpoint in one location.

“Every time we get a grant like this, that brings us that much closer to moving to Central Hall,” Krauter said.