Five Questions

Over the next three years, Robert M. Ball will oversee the

completion of Southwest Florida International Airport’s Midfield Terminal

Complex, a 76,000-square-foot addition that will boast 28 gates, three

concourses and a three-story parking garage. In all, the project should bring

$648 million to Southwest Florida’s economy.

Ball came to Southwest Florida in 1993 after making a name

for himself with the $200 million expansion of Jacksonville International

Airport. Three years later he became executive director of the Lee County Port

Authority. Since then, his biggest challenge has been securing funding,

licensing and permitting for the much-needed new terminal.

Like other airport directors nationwide, Ball faced a new

set of challenges after Sept. 11. Now he maintains almost daily contact with

the Transportation Safety Administration, a new arm of the U.S. Department of

Transportation that is spearheading an overhaul of airport security. Even with

the task of integrating new security mandates from TSA into the design of the

$386 million Midfield Terminal south of the airport’s current runway, Ball is

confident the project will be finished on schedule in 2005.

What are you doing to ensure airport security?

The airline industry and the TSA are focused on getting

federal security officers at each airport. We will have to take a phased

approach. For instance, we’re balancing extensive baggage checks versus

customer convenience. Customers have to understand there will be longer waits

and longer lines, but technology companies are looking into high-speed baggage

checks.

In addition, we have had employees observing a detection and

tracking program in Norfolk, Va., and a pilot program for security measures in

Grand Rapids, Mich.

Right now, security is 100 percent better than before Sept.

11. New se-curity technology is being developed. We need to take a common-sense

approach to implementing this technology, not just adding it for the sake of

adding it.

What’s unique about the Midfield Terminal?

We want a facility that meets the needs of the public. We

want it to be more comfortable and user-friendly. The complex will have the

ability to expand to 65 gates. I don’t envision that, but we can expand without

disrupting traffic.

Travelers like to walk from the ticket counter to the

farthest gate. Other airports don’t have that. We struggled with how to be able

to do this project without making us too big.

Why was it important to expand without becoming too large?

We have a considerable senior population. Moving sidewalks

and escalators make it difficult for an elderly person to navigate an airport.

We’ve worked hard to make sure our new facility will be able to maintain a

ticket-to-gate distance of 800 feet. We’ve integrated that into our design.

Where are the funds coming from?

Since we are an enterprise fund that is user-fee based, we

don’t burden the local taxpayer with financing our projects. Concessions,

rents, aeronautical revenue, those are our sources of funding. The airlines are

our partners. They agreed to cover all our costs, both operational and capital.

In exchange for that, any revenue we make goes toward a reduction of the rates

and charges on them. Maintaining competitiveness equals maintaining the services

from airlines and expanding their customer base.

What advantages will small and minority contractors have

when it comes to winning a construction contract for the Midfield Terminal?

We have 32 firms under contract now—local firms for design

engineering, construction administration, supplies, printing. We’re also

working with a disadvantaged enterprise program to establish goals for smaller

contractors.