Ever heard of National Aviation Day? It’s real. And Salt Lake City International Airport celebrated it Monday by releasing a time-lapse video of some of the ongoing construction of its new $3.6 billion replacement facility.
“It’s to help educate the public and passengers about different aspects of the construction,” says airport spokeswoman Nancy Volmer.
The airport hired Avalanche Productions to produce vignettes of the construction over time, which Volmer says eventually will be used for a documentary at ceremonies to open the first phase of the new airport on Sept. 15, 2020.
She said the airport realized it wasn’t providing information at the airport about the huge construction project and its progress. So it started producing and updating the vignettes, which may be seen at monitors around the airport and on its webpage. “We wanted passengers traveling through the airport to know what is going on,” she said.
The latest two-minute update coincided with National Airport Day, so the airport released it then through social media to celebrate. It shows the current condition of the new terminal, concourses and parking garage — with time-lapse segments of continuing work.
It points out that the airport is the 23rd busiest in North America and has 26 million passengers a year. It does not mention that the current facility was designed to handle only 10 million.
The video notes the new airport is designed to avoid current bottlenecks that complicate service; will accommodate growth; add more parking; and will add a two-level roadway to separate departures and arrivals.
It notes new facilities will improve service, maintain competitive costs, solve operational problems, accommodate growth, be environmentally and technologically friendly, and will offer more space and comfort.
It stresses it is being built with no state or local taxes, but by airport passenger fees and federal grants.
Volmer said post-production costs for the latest vignette were $2,500 and did not yet have a total projected cost for the overall documentary and video project.
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