By Ian Ross
Improved passenger amenities for frequent flyers and additional office space for prospective air carriers to set up shop are among the improvements seen at the January opening of the new $6-million terminal at North Bay’s Jack Garland Airport
Built by Tribury Construction of Sudbury, the single-level design of the new terminal should be a great relief to regular North Bay travellers - especially for individuals with physical disabilities who are all too familiar with having to ascend stairs at the old three-storey terminal built back in the 1960s, says airport manager Owen Andrusiak.
“The whole building was getting old,” Andrusiak says. “The place was getting a bit dingy and this is a much more open atmosphere with high, vaulted ceilings, lots of wood accents. It’s really quite beautiful and it’s a much more inviting building.
“With this single storey, passengers can go from the car to the check-in counter and out to the aircraft. It’s much more compact and easier for customers.”
As part of the transfer agreement between the federal government and North Bay, Transport Canada contributed $4.6 million in 1998 to fund construction of a new building.
The terminal is approximately the same size as the old building, roughly 15,000 square feet, but among the most-improved passenger amenities is a “radically expanded” restaurant and kitchen area. Some of the restaurant seating opens out into a courtyard setting.
“That’s one of the biggest advantages of the new terminal building,” says Andrusiak.
They also have an enlarged security holding room that is large enough to accommodate passengers for a 737-size aircraft, more public advantages, such as automated banking machines and a public Internet kiosk.
Concerning the possibility of luring additional air carriers such as WestJet to North Bay, Andrusiak says the upgraded facilities help in only a “superficial way” with space available for expansion to add extra check-in counters, and office space set aside for any incoming carriers, something not available in the old building.
“If WestJet came to us and wanted to start flying, we really couldn’t accommodate them properly (in the old building), but with this new terminal building we do have that space and we can put them into rather large offices which we’ve reserved for additional airlines,” Andrusiak says.
Fully realizing that the presentation of the terminal speaks volumes for the progressive nature of the city, special consideration was given to the design concept to give the facility a distinctly Northern Ontario feel with interior wood accents and concrete to represent trees and rocks.
“It’s the first thing people see when they come to North Bay and the last thing they see when they leave, so that gives it a favourable impression.”
Basically the old facility and its limited functions had outlived its usefulness, says Andrusiak. But instead of taking the wrecking ball to the former terminal, they are leasing it for space, targeting general aviation companies that can make use of airside access.
The first tenant, Helicopters Canada, operates a very successful flight-training building out of the 16,000-square-foot structure.
Building a new terminal was one of the pillars of the city’s transpark initiative to increase business development and educational opportunities at the airport, which includes construction of Canadore College’s school of aviation campus, maximizing the potential to develop the facility into an international air freight handling hub and the redevelopment of some of the abandoned military hangars to bring aviation companies to North Bay.
