Main Terminal
Related links
DENVER -
Big changes are in works for Denver International Airport. Officials are taking a look into their "crystal ball," and what they see is a $1 billion project that would change where you check in, where you get your luggage and where you go through security.
We're talking very long term planning here and the first question a lot of people have is: why are we talking about changes to the airport when it's only 15-years-old?
There were always long-term plans to expand DIA over the years. The city has hired a planning and construction company to start moving forward.
By next spring, DIA will start to undergo the first of several major changes to take it through the rest of the century. The first phase involves construction on the south end for a giant hotel complex and FasTracks train station featuring railway bridges crossing over Pena Boulevard.
The whole thing expected to cost around $700 million paid for, officials say, by federal aviation money.
"The idea that -in a few years- you'll be able to go to Union Station," said Manager of Aviation Kim Day, "Get your boarding pass, drop your bag and then take the train to DIA it just changes how people use this airport ."
Day says the changes will help Denver become an international business hub and generate even more money for the airport.
Fifteen years ago, the atrium was an open-air showplace for the airport with shops and restaurants for people to enjoy, but after the 9/11 attacks, that all changed. Now, it's become little more than a human cattle call for security.
And since nearly half the 50 million or so people who visit the airport each year are just changing planes, DIA wants to allow them to come to the main terminal without having to be re-screened, so they can spend money.
One idea is to move all that security where ticketing and check in is, so as you come into the airport you go through security and you're cleared by the time you get to the atrium.
The first trains are due to arrive at DIA in just seven years. The atrium changes could take several more.
Groundbreaking on the hotel begins next spring and they estimate a cost of less than a billion dollars for all these plans. But the airport was originally supposed to cost less than $2 billion and, of course, it ended up costing nearly five.
Airport officials say taxpayers will not have to foot the bill for the upgrades.
We're talking very long term planning here and the first question a lot of people have is: why are we talking about changes to the airport when it's only 15-years-old?
There were always long-term plans to expand DIA over the years. The city has hired a planning and construction company to start moving forward.
By next spring, DIA will start to undergo the first of several major changes to take it through the rest of the century. The first phase involves construction on the south end for a giant hotel complex and FasTracks train station featuring railway bridges crossing over Pena Boulevard.
The whole thing expected to cost around $700 million paid for, officials say, by federal aviation money.
"The idea that -in a few years- you'll be able to go to Union Station," said Manager of Aviation Kim Day, "Get your boarding pass, drop your bag and then take the train to DIA it just changes how people use this airport ."
Day says the changes will help Denver become an international business hub and generate even more money for the airport.
Fifteen years ago, the atrium was an open-air showplace for the airport with shops and restaurants for people to enjoy, but after the 9/11 attacks, that all changed. Now, it's become little more than a human cattle call for security.
And since nearly half the 50 million or so people who visit the airport each year are just changing planes, DIA wants to allow them to come to the main terminal without having to be re-screened, so they can spend money.
One idea is to move all that security where ticketing and check in is, so as you come into the airport you go through security and you're cleared by the time you get to the atrium.
The first trains are due to arrive at DIA in just seven years. The atrium changes could take several more.
Groundbreaking on the hotel begins next spring and they estimate a cost of less than a billion dollars for all these plans. But the airport was originally supposed to cost less than $2 billion and, of course, it ended up costing nearly five.
Airport officials say taxpayers will not have to foot the bill for the upgrades.
