Resorts and Front Range airports upgrading to handle increased traffic

From the small mountain airports servicing skiers to a new U.S. Air Force training facility on the Front Range to a private jet club in the metro area, Colorado airports are upgrading.

By Chryss Cada

Centennial's Private Jet Club

With a private jet club under construction, Centennial Airport is making the move up to first class.

"We want to provide our clients with a level of service that isn't available anywhere else," said David Vaughn, director of facilities, personnel and ground operations for XJet Club LLC. "Because we go above and beyond the service you'll find anywhere else, we call our concierge service 'seven star.'"

Clients who store their planes with XJet can call ahead to have their planes fueled and ready for boarding.

"Owners will pull up next to their plane and be taking off within a matter of minutes," Vaughn said. "When they return, their plane will pull up right next to their car, which will have been filled with gas, serviced and detailed in their absence."

The high-end nature of the club begins with the facility itself.

"It's important that we have a facility that is better than anyone else has, and that starts with a building that looks good," Vaughn said.

XJet hired Denver's klipp to design a "gorgeous building." The firm recently designed the Hyatt Convention Center Hotel in downtown Denver.

The $7.5 million XJet facility will include two 25,000-sq-ft hangars. Steel work has begun on the project, scheduled for completion in February 2007.

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Pueblo Memorial Airport

Just down the road, but far from the leisure of the XJet facility, a new U.S. Air Force training facility has just completed construction at the Pueblo Memorial Airport.

"It's like a mini-academy," said Jim Spaccamonti, president and CEO of the Pueblo Economic Development Corp., owners of the project. "The facility will be entirely self-contained."

The Air Force second lieutenants who train at the facility will live, eat, exercise and recreate on the 43-acre campus. An estimated 1,300 to 1,700 cadet pilots will receive training at the facility each year. The $7.5 million project encompasses 240,000 sq ft, including two hangars. It involved remodeling an old Lockheed Martin hangar and building a new hangar from the ground up. Bassett Construction Co. is the general contractor for the training school and hangars. The project was nearing completion in late September, with the first cadets due on site by Oct. 15.

Yampa Valley Airport

Far from the flatlands of Pueblo, the Yampa Valley Airport is in the second phase of upgrading its terminal to accommodate a growing number of visitors coming to ski in Steamboat Springs.

The airport is celebrating its 40th anniversary and the three-phase, $16 million upgrade is the first major construction project it has undertaken.

"I'm sure the guys (construction workers) would be happier if we just tore the whole thing down and started over, but that wasn't in our budget," said Ann Copeland, the airport terminal manager.

While Phase I expanded the ticket lobby, Phase II will double the size of the terminal. The architect on the $5.5 million project is The Ross Partnership PC and the general contractor is TCD. The project is slated for completion before the ski traffic rush.

"It's like building a big church just for Sundays," Copeland explained. "Ninety-eight percent of our 134,000 enplanements are between Dec. 15 and April 4 - and 98 percent of those are between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m."

Traffic has increased exponentially at the small airport since Steamboat Ski Resort launched a public relations push 20 years ago to bring more destination skiers to the region.

Telluride Regional Airport

Changes at another ski town airport are being done outside.

Telluride Regional Airport is undergoing a $7.5 million rehabilitation of its taxiway and apron. United Companies of Mesa County Inc. is the contractor on the project.

"Given the elements our concrete is exposed to, we have to make sure we keep on top of maintaining it," said Richard Nuttall, airport manager.

Nuttall is looking forward to a complete rebuilding of the airport's runway next year. The $50 million, Federal Aviation Administration-funded project will shut the airport down next September through November.

Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport

Also undergoing taxiway and apron rehabilitation is the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport.

The $5.1 million project to rehabilitate and reconstruct taxiway A and expand the apron is being funded by a $4.6 million FAA grant and a local match of State of Colorado and airport funds.

The work was identified in the Airport's Master Plan as a first priority because the pavement to be rehabilitated was classified in "very poor condition."

Specific projects include: