New Planes Force Redo of $2.1B Terminal

ROMULUS, MI-Northwest Airlines says it’s going to spend more than $45 million to rebuild a new concourse at the McNamera Terminal, only months after the massive project opened. The 1 million-sf McNamera Terminal was opened early this year at the Detroit airport in Romulus, which is the main airport for the southeast Michigan region. The cost of the project was roughly $2.1 billion.

Executives at Northwest knew ahead of time that the brand-new terminal would have to be rebuilt soon after it opened, said company spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert. “We knew. The concourse was built with concrete blocks as a minimal investment,” Schubert told GlobeSt.com.

Concourse C will be rebuilt as a Phase II of the project, she said, adding that the company has contracted with Smith Group of Detroit to build the new concourse. She noted that the company finished negotiating the design of the McNamera Terminal, named after Wayne County Executive Ed McNamera, back in 1997.