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SHOWCASE:
What's Old Is New
Chicago's Midway Airport has made a comeback and returned to its glorious past.

By Heidi Schwartz

During its heyday back in the 1940s and 1950s, Midway airport was at the center of aviation. It even won the distinction of being considered the world's busiest airport in the years from 1932-1955. In that era, many Chicagoans were proud of having a first class airport within its city limits.

Midway airport's present location opened in 1947 with a standalone terminal to meet travelers' needs. Forty years later, it desperately needed a facelift.

By 1991, the once grand airport was falling behind its much larger, younger sibling'O'Hare International. By contrast, Midway was down to a small number of daily flights, and in November of that year, Midway Airlines (the local carrier) shut down operations. Calls for the airport to be closed were heard around the city. 

While the airport was neglected and seemed destined for closure, it did have a savior. The city of Chicago committed to the airport's resuscitation. Much needed help also came from two discount airlines (Southwest and ATA) that stepped up to lend their support by agreeing to fly out of Midway; and a funding solution was reached by the airlines, city and federal governments.

Project Directives And Challenges

In the fall of 1995, design for the expansion/renovation began. Two architectural firms, Kansas City, MO-based HNTB and Chicago, IL-based A. Epstein and Sons International Inc. worked together on the project. The former was the principal design firm and the latter was the lead architect.

Tim Cahill, vice president and director of design at HNTB explains the city's desire to meet a certain business model and praises city officials for sticking with their plans for the airport.

'The city had specific ideas what the building should cost; what they could spend on it; how it was going to work'.From the very beginning, it was meant to be an airport that was nice but had to work for the [financial] numbers, its location, and the airlines that serve that airport,' says Cahill. 'If you build a fancy airport and it doesn't make any dollars or doesn't work for the airlines there, it's not very pertinent. [Midway] is one that works well with the business model for the city.'

Additionally, the project principals had to keep the airport operational while construction took place, so the team was required to keep a certain number of gates open throughout the expansion. The existing runways could not be moved either, due to spacing limitations. (Midway is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.)

Cicero Avenue And Parking Garage

Without the ability to change the runway footprint, the project team had to start construction on the road (Cicero Avenue) that runs parallel to the airport in order to create open space for the new terminal.

"The first thing we did was have seven lanes of Cicero Ave. moved further to the east," says Cahill.

Cicero Avenue is a major highway that runs in a north/south direction through the city. Due to its importance as a traffic artery, the Department of Transportation (DOT) would not allow for the complete closure of the road. In order to work around this, the team collaborated with the DOT to develop a lane closure strategy for the highway. Night work was one alternative the team used for this portion of the construction.

Along with moving a major highway back to accommodate the rest of the construction, there were several other large job elements demanded by the project. These elements included: the demolition of old parking lots; the creation of a six story parking garage; and the development of a flyover entrance into the terminal that ran above Cicero Avenue to improve access and ease local traffic into the airport. All this occurred outside of the construction on the actual terminal. As the project was done in phases, the principals on the job had to coordinate different elements and aspects of the job. Cahill estimates there were over 250 design phase sketches and gives an example of the multitasking that became commonplace for the project. "As we built the road construction, we put in a baggage tunnel between the terminal and the east side of Cicero and the concourses and the gates building on the west side of Cicero," says Cahill.

Coordinating numerous ongoing jobs while competing with the physical layout of the airport complicated construction to some degree. The terminal is located on the east side of Cicero Avenue and is bordered by the runways. The old airport's parking lots were on the west side of Cicero Avenue. This major thoroughfare dissected the construction site in half.

Allen L. Pomerance, executive vice president of A. Epstein and Sons International Inc. and project director for the Midway Airport expansion explains the core of what the terminal aspect of the project entailed. "We were designing a new airport to be built on the site of an existing airport. The phasing [of construction] allowed for sections of the old building to stay open while the new building was being built. Then, systematic demolition of the old building took place. As the new building grew, the old building shrunk."

HVAC Implementation

The airport's original HVAC systems helped the team during construction. "The old building was heated and cooled with rooftop type units, so it was relatively easy to isolate a portion of the building," explains Pomerance. The new HVAC systems are housed in their own physical plant facility on site.

The facility management team played a significant role in the implementation of the new HVAC systems by working with the project principals on the phased commissioning process and subsequent opening of the airport.

"The role we played when we came on board was to work with the Department of Aviation and its project management team to help them understand the function of the systems that went in and also get those things commissioned," states Steve O'Mara, general manager of Chicago, IL-based Facility Service Professionals.

Taking On Growth

In 1998, the airport served 11.4 million passengers. This year, the latest projections for Midway show the airport is expected to serve 21.5 million people. O'Mara acknowledges the demands of such growth.

'The biggest challenge we face is keeping up with the relative success of Midway. We are already nearly 20% in excess of the estimated passenger flow at the time the building was designed. We have to be ready to change what we do on a daily basis'in most cases based upon a particular load and particular areas of the building. It is a very dynamic clientele, as you might expect in an airport. It's not like an office building where people are sitting in their offices all day. We get folks who come in here for two to three hours, and depending on the airline and the airline's schedule, we get those loads in specific areas of the building. We have to manipulate our staffing structures and workloads to address that dynamic clientele.'

O'Mara says that the public areas such as the food courts and washrooms are the high traffic areas that need the most attention.

Times Change And So Do Airports

Ironically, as Midway has made a comeback from possible closure, O'Hare is now struggling with its own infrastructure problems. Because O'Hare has been extremely busy this year, it has exceeded its capacity levels and has experienced numerous delays. However, the airlines and city officials have been attempting to address this issue by restructuring flight patterns and planning major renovations at the airport.

While Midway has surpassed its traveler expectations, it has maintained its small airport feel and something travelers relish most: convenience. When flying today, people expect to have delays and downtime at their airport, and then spend more time getting to a city's business district even after they arrive at their destination.

"The biggest thing about Midway is the convenience level....You can fly right into Midway and get on the orange line [subway] and go right downtown," states Cahill.

Once the epicenter for aviation, Midway's rebirth has created a modern airport able to accommodate greater traveler capacity and at the same time help city officials market Chicago's accessibility.

This article was compiled from interviews with O'Mara, Cahill, and Pomerance.

Do you work in a setting that might have unusual challenges? Please send an e-mail to schwartz@groupc.com.

Project Information:

Project: Midway Airport. Type of Facility: New. Function of Facility: Transportation. Owner: City of Chicago. Manager: Steve O'Mara. Footage: 950,000. Budget: $750 million. Architectural Firms: A.Epstein and Sons International (Lead); HNTB (Design). Contractors: Clark McHugh Raugh. Construction Managers: Kenny-Rust-Midway. Civil Engineer: McDonough Associates, Inc.

Product Information:

Roofing: John Mansville. Seating: KI-Kruger. Doors: Security Medical Products.