Dan Fowler stood and watched as construction equipment started to tear down the concrete of Terminal A at the Kansas City International Airport.
The now vacated building is the first of many changes that will be coming to KCI following an official groundbreaking for a new single-terminal airport.
On Monday, March 25, council members, city officials from across the metro and citizens flocked to the airport to see the start of a $1.5 billion project that will bring a new-look airport to Kansas City by 2023.
“This has been a long, hard slog, but it is great to see it come to fruition,” said the 2nd district councilman who represents Platte County. “It is really great … it feels great.”
The project was passed by 74 percent of voters back in November 2016. Since then the long process of finding a construction partner, getting the airlines on board and clearing federal hurdles followed — not to mention the council voting against memorandum of understanding in 2017 with Edgemoor Infrastructure and Real Estate.
“When you got three-fourths of the city behind you, it is hard to find a reason not to do it,” Fowler said. “I think some of my council colleagues tried.”
The festivities had hundreds gathered inside a tent and listened to the emcee of the event, Mitch Holthus, the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs.
He got the crowd fired up by saying this isn’t fly over country, it is fly in to country. Holthus added when he hears people say Kansas City is in the middle of nowhere, he reminds them it is in the middle of everything.
He even altered his trademark saying on the radio. Instead of ‘Touchdown, Kansaaaaass City’ he gave the project a new saying ‘Wheels up, Kansaaaaas City.’
Coming back to town after doing a TV broadcast for ESPN, the broadcaster likened the atmosphere to a game day with the buzz around the area.
He rattled off what the city has seen in recent years to draw national attention: two World Series trips by the Royals and an AFC Championship game hosted by the Chiefs for the first time in program history.
He noted the city will host the World Cup in 2026 and the NFL Draft could be here some day.
This week fans from North Carolina, Auburn, Kentucky and Houston will come to town to watch the NCAA Regional event at Sprint Center.
Then he injected a bit of humor.
“The best thing to happen to this airport is when (Patrick) Mahomes flew in … I’m just saying,” Holthus said.
He noted those present were part of a seminal moment in the city’s history, one that will be remembered for years to come.
Leonard Graham, president of Taliaferro & Browne engineering, echoed those statements.
“This is a watershed event … it is a new front door for the city, as much as a new front door as Union Station was when it was constructed in 1914,” Graham said. We are ready to assume our place among our peer cities and compete with a new set of civic assets to again be the Paris of the plains as it was in Kansas City’s heyday.”
Eight different people spoke at the ceremony.
Kansas City Aviation Department director Pat Klein called it a great day for Kansas City and thanks the efforts of the Platte County Economic Development Council and the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce for starting to get the word out about the new airport years ago.
Over time the project has taken on several names, New KCI and Better KCI to name a few, but he unveiled the latest and official project name: BuildKCI, which has a website that will provide updates on the project that cleared a hurdle during last week’s city council meeting. The airport committee approved issuing $90 million in bonds to keep the work going and the council followed with approval. The money borrowed will go toward design costs and expenses — $23 million — that have already been incurred by Edgmoor and its subcontractors. So far, Edgmoor has 60 local firms they are working with — 41 of which are women or minority owned.
Alise Martiny of Greater Kansas City Building & Construction Trades Council remembers her father helping to build the current airport in the 1970s and knows how important this project will be for many in the greater Kansas City area.
“Good jobs are the key to strong families,” she said. “This will provide many years of steady involvement not only the terminal but the ripple effect from the $1.5 billion investment in our community. That is what it is all about.”
Joe Reardon, president of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, said the impact of the terminal construction will last years into the future and will help bring in new businesses and attract key events.
“Starting now, we move from ideas to action and from plans to construction,” he said. “What an amazing moment for all of us in Kansas City.”
The airport revitalization is one that many employees of Cerner are looking forward to seeing. Kara Dark, who works in the business development department for the health care technology giant that generated $5.4 billion in revenue last year. She said she travels about 40 weeks of the year and the company logged more than 150,000 arrival and departures through KCI last year.
The last speaker was mayor Sly James, who was wearing his trademark bowtie.
He entered his current role eight years ago and as he enters his final months in the top political gig in the city, he recalls the hard work that was needed to make this airport renovation possible. He appointed a task force six years ago but noted there was opposition.
“I remember the initial hard work and the push back that we got,” James said. “People don’t like way things are but they absolutely hate change.”
James state he recalls concerns about the airport and its appearance when trying to land major events, like the Republican National Convention or marquee sporting events.
“I learned how important it is to put your best foot forward the moment they land here in Kansas City,” he said.
James added this new terminal would put Kansas City on a ‘new level’ and just months after the vote was passed Icelandair started service from KCI last year. The largest single economic project in the city’s history may be James’ lasting legacy.
“We used to be the city that never missed the opportunity to miss an opportunity,” James said. “That is no longer the case. We have learned the trick that if you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far, you want to go together. We are going far and we are doing that by going together.”
After he got done speaking, James donned a hard hat and red vest and walked over to get into the cab of heavy equipment. With guidance from local laborers, James broke the first of many pieces of concrete as Terminal A will be taken down.
Then, members of the council, various council committees and then businesses leaders took their turn using a shovel to turn ceremonial dirt.
While Group numbers 8, 9 and 10 were called up for the photo op, Fowler watched the deconstruction of the terminal continue in the background.
He was pulled aside and asked what this project meant for him.
“This is my district,” Fowler said. “I was thinking about this the other day. There won’t be a restaurant that isn’t jammed packed every night for the next four years and every lunch counter will be full. People got to eat. I think this is outstanding. The spill over benefits to the county is great. Parkville, Riverside, unincorporated Platte County, Weston, Platte City … the whole county will benefit from this. The benefits are enormous. Just the retail trade that will be spent is massive. I predict every hotel room up here will be tied up. It is a great thing.”