PULLMAN, Wash. — KREM 2 is tracking more growth in the Inland Northwest.
A milestone was completed Wednesday of a new terminal for the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport. The completion of the first phase of construction was celebrated by a "topping-off" ceremony.
When the new construction is complete, it will serve as the main terminal for all commercial flights.
"It's a huge milestone for us," said Chad Cluff, the Superintendent for Hoffman Construction. "Putting this beam in place, celebrate celebrates a lot of things celebrates a lot of effort that's gone into the building so far, and also a celebration of the fact that we've done so safely. And we haven't injured any workers along the way."
During the ceremony, the last structural beam was put in place at the construction site. When the project is complete, the airport will have grown massively.
"Between the basement and main concourse level, we're growing that to just about 47,000 square feet," Cuff said. "There's going to be four gates."
The project cost a total of $85 million and had been in talks since 2011.
"We knew we needed the terminal," Cuff said.
The current Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport is only 8,000 square feet and no longer has the capacity for commercial air travel.
"It provides a platform for business to thrive and serve and create better quality of life for everybody that encounters it," Airport Director Anthony Bean said.
The airport currently only does three commercial flights a day, two flights to Seattle and one to Boise.
The mayor of Pullman, Glenn Johnson, said the new terminal will have an immediate impact.
"This allows people to congregate," Johnson said. "We'll have restaurants in there, we'll have a bar. Again, people will be in comfort. We know that we'll have additional flights. And so basically it links us to the outside world."
The goal is to open the new terminal and at least one gate by December 2023. Fliers can expect the other gates to open within the year.
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