Wichita Falls Regional Airport – New Terminal Building
Features & Highlights
- Joint military/civilian airport
- Project included an aircraft museum
- Construction was completed three months early to accommodate holiday travel
Project Overview
Henry Florsheim of the City of Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce describes the Wichita Falls Regional Airport as “the front door to the community.” This first impression was transformed with a new 52,000-square-foot terminal, complete with an aircraft museum. While the airport previously only had one gate with tarmac boarding, the new terminal features two gates, allowing the airport to add another carrier in the future. The facility also features modern jet bridges for passenger boarding and deplaning, expanded space for passenger ticketing, baggage processing, chapel/meditation room, military appreciation center, passenger screening, administrative offices, airside apron paving, a rental car facility and parking.
The highlight of the museum is a Curtiss JN4-D, “Jenny” biplane from World War I, which was used in the very first military aviation training at Call Field. Next to the Jenny is a T-38 Talon, the plane used to train NATO pilots at the nearby Sheppard Air Force Base. The museum speaks to the nearly 100 years of military aviation in Wichita Falls, and the strong relationship between Shepherd Air Force Base and the town.
Between the preconstruction phase and the beginning of construction, Trinity Hughes|Sundt worked on scheduling to help speed up the project from the programmed date of March 2015. Significant gains were also made during construction that resulted in the project finishing months early, on December 17, just in time for the busy holiday travel season.