Grand Rapids Airport (GRR) News and Developments

[GR8scott]

GRR needs a low cost carrier to be competetive keeping others from driving to DTW or ORD, but as it is right now many people from all over W, MI drive to GRR to fly out instead of AZO, MKG, TVC, ect. I know LAN has a low-cost carrier and markets it along highways in W. MI I dont know how many people actually fly out of there. I just look for the lowest prices and GRR is ussually chaeper than AZO and LAN.

[Eridony]

Did anyone else notice the article says the ramp will have 4.000 spaces? So did they change the plans from the original 4,800 spaces, or did the press make a mistake?

:: Yay! I've achieved Whistle-Stop status! ::

Edited April 19, 2007 by Eridony

[Delvrin]

Did anyone else notice the article says the ramp will have 4.000 spaces? So did they change the plans from the original 4,800 spaces, or did the press make a mistake?

:: Yay! I've achieved Whistle-Stop status! ::

It said it will add 4,000 spaces, meaning the 800 difference will be the surface spots that are replaced.

[Eridony]

It said it will add 4,000 spaces, meaning the 800 difference will be the surface spots that are replaced.

Ah, thanks for correcting me, I guess I went through the article to fast!

[GRDadof3]

WZZM has video showing a couple of clips of the new ramp (images are different from those posted earlier). It does give the airport more of a "big city" feel, at least to people arriving by automobile. Now to give it a more big city feel to those arriving by plane.

http://www.wzzm13.com/video/player.aspx?aid=17883&bw=

[snoogit]

that does look nice, and I hope that there is some money for an exterior makeover in that budget as well. it would seem odd with that Ramp, and the current airport as it is now would be a clash of architectural styles.

[MJLO]

ok i know i miss details, did they say when construction would start? I think that's a great look for GRR, I have said so since the begginning.

[GRDadof3]

ok i know i miss details, did they say when construction would start? I think that's a great look for GRR, I have said so since the begginning.

September or October 07, finished in 09.

Snoogit, does the current terminal even have an "architectural style"?

[destijl]

"60's Daverman Style"?

[GR8scott]

It looks nice but I was hopeing that there was going to be alittle more tied into DT and the convention center look

[GRDadof3]

Airport parking ramp wins OK

And work may start on a the temporary lot as soon as May, and demo of the existing lot as early as July.

[GRDadof3]

Anyone want to volunteer to be our official construction photographer on this project? I'm thinking demolition of the current lot will begin soon.

[GRguy]

Whoever volunteers better have a "spot free" record with the Department of Homeland Security. Showing up repeatedly to photograph the same spot at the airport might result in a black sedan parked out front of your residence.

[sparky05]

Anyone want to volunteer to be our official construction photographer on this project? I'm thinking demolition of the current lot will begin soon.

I love the airport to begin with, although I'm usually at the viewing area. I'll certainly try to get out there from time to time to get some shots of the activity, as long as i don't get hauled in by airport security.

Whoever volunteers better have a "spot free" record with the Department of Homeland Security. Showing up repeatedly to photograph the same spot at the airport might result in a black sedan parked out front of your residence.

this is where it's helpful to develop some skill at shooting photos out of a car window while driving by a site...

Edited May 19, 2007 by sparky05

[Kayak1]

Bids due the end of July. Looks like all the national guys are teaming up with a local. We are going to see lots of out of state guys on this one. The pre-bid meeting is a whole day. $3,400 for the non refundable plan deposit. Ouch.

[GRDadof3]

From an article in the Advance today:

"The proposed structure will encompass 1.1 Million square feet. The Devos Place in downtown Grand Rapids equals 1.1 Million square feet. The structure will be bigger than the combined area of all 6 downtown GR parking ramps. The garage will encompass 82,000 cubic yards of concrete and 11,300 tons of steel"

Just thought you Modern Marvels fans might enjoy that.

[sparky05]

Wow, that just seems outlandishly huge...

[mgreven]

From an article in the Advance today:

Funny thing is that I rarely read the Advance, but I did this week and saw that article. Did you notice that the lady quoted at the end said that she was so glad this was being built because parking at the airport is TERRIBLE. Now I don't fly much, but I've always been able to park in a surface lot really close to the terminal. Granted, it was really expensive for being out in the cornfields but it was always easy. Especially easier than navigating a huge parking garage. I guess even at the airport people like to complain about parking.

[tamias6]

From an article in the Advance today:

"The proposed structure will encompass 1.1 Million square feet. The Devos Place in downtown Grand Rapids equals 1.1 Million square feet. The structure will be bigger than the combined area of all 6 downtown GR parking ramps. The garage will encompass 82,000 cubic yards of concrete and 11,300 tons of steel"

Just thought you Modern Marvels fans might enjoy that.

Here is what 1.1 million sq. ft. looks like as compared to a standard Meijer store.

Edited June 23, 2007 by tamias6

[RenZone]

I love the airport to begin with, although I'm usually at the viewing area. I'll certainly try to get out there from time to time to get some shots of the activity, as long as i don't get hauled in by airport security.

this is where it's helpful to develop some skill at shooting photos out of a car window while driving by a site...

Contact the PR person at the airport to see if they can provide shots; you'd think they'll be snapping some for their files/web use. Or, maybe they could give you permission to shoot for the forum. Maybe they're members of this forum?

Here is a link to GRR's site about photo/media use on site:

http://www.grr.org/ReqFilm.php

[hombre_de_ciudad]

From an article in the Advance today:

The proposed structure will encompass 1.1 Million square feet.

Here is a link to the website for the parking ramp project:

Airport Parking Ramp Site

The Advertisement for Bid found on that page calls it a 1.8 million square foot garage.

Edited June 25, 2007 by hombre_de_ciudad

[snoogit]

I'm starting to see now why its going to cost $120 million

Thats a biiiig buildin'!

edit: there must be more to it, a car doesn't need almost 230 sq ft of storage space.

Edited June 26, 2007 by snoogit

[tamias6]

It also looks like the new ramp is going to be far bigger than the terminal it will serve. Sort of like an elephant being commanded by a mouse.

[snoogit]

It also looks like the new ramp is going to be far bigger than the terminal it will serve. Sort of like an elephant being commanded by a mouse.

I thought GRR was 2.1 million Sq ft?

[tamias6]

I've come up with about 177,000 sq. ft. for the footprint of the terminal. If I remember right the terminal is mostly a two story building so that's about 352,000 sq. ft. Just to be generous I'll throw in an extra 50,000 sq. feet to account for any areas of the building with more than two floors and the traffic control tower. So I'm guessing 420,000 sq. ft.

So we are going to have a 1.1 million square foot parking ramp plus however many square feet of surface parking for a 420,000 sq. foot. building. Granted allot of people files in and out of the terminal building everyday. But when a parking ramp that is more than double the the size of the building and costs as much as Devos Place is needed, I think its time to be looking at installing a serious mode of Mass Transit as an attractive alternative choice to the automobile get folks to and from the airport.

I thought GRR was 2.1 million Sq ft?