Milwaukee airport wants to revive $80M concourse project with federal funding

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Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport will compete for a federal grant to help revive an $80 million concourse project after original plans were shelved by the 2020 pandemic.

The airport wants to rebuild Concourse E, the oldest of three concourses, with the help of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Terminal Program, said Brian Dranzik, director of the Milwaukee County airport. The program stems from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will spread another billion dollars across U.S. airports this fiscal year.

In 2017, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to demolish Concourse E and build a larger facility. Construction was ready for late 2020 but paused due to the coronavirus pandemic. The project has been in planning since at least 2016 and Concourse E has been closed for years.

“We would have been in construction in late 2020 or early 2021, but obviously the effects of COVID delayed the project and put us where we are today,” Dranzik said.

Redevelopment in 2020 budgeted around $55 million, Dranzik said. Recent estimates show the project costing around $80 million for demolition and reconstruction, and the director added the amount may change after design changes.

The notice for FAA funding won’t be available until late summer or early fall of 2024, Dranzik said. The airport will apply then and wait until February 2025 when funding rounds are announced.

Project officials anticipate construction will take two years. Groundbreaking could start in late 2025 depending on how finances line up, Dranzik said.

Other sources of financing include airport reserve funds taken from concession sales and past facility charges.

When the airport gets its next project estimate, it will have to go back to the county board and get accepted once more, Dranzik said.

In September 2022, the airport released a plan to redevelop Concourse E up to 50,000 square feet in the first phase of construction. The first phase would also include two gates, a third passenger plane parking space and new screening and security facilities. The second phase would create a new gate seating space and convert a deplanement gate to an arrival and departure gate.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley on March 19 highlighted federal funding for the airport among county projects during his State of the County address. In 2023, the airport had its best traffic year since before the pandemic with more than six million passengers, the county executive added.