August 27, 2004

Mineta San Jose International Airport breaks ground on North Concourse

By Shari Kaplan
Staff Writer

This computerized artist’s sketch shows what the front exterior of the Mineta San Jose International Airport’s North Concourse will look like when finished in late 2007. Sketch courtesy of Mineta San Jose International Airport

A $355 million structure called the North Concourse is the first major component of the Mineta San Jose International Airport’s Terminal Zone Development Program (TZDP) to get underway. Funded by airport revenue bonds and various federal grants—not taxpayer dollars—it will be located between current Terminals A and C and is scheduled for completion by late 2007.

The North Concourse is one part of the threefold TZDP, which has an estimated overall completion date of 2013. The TZDP will, in future years, come to include connecting structures called the South Concourse and the Central Terminal—the latter to be named after James M. Nissen, a former pilot who, in the 1940s, helped create what was then the San Jose Municipal Airport.

An official groundbreaking ceremony took place Aug. 18 on blacktop that will one day house the North Concourse. San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, City Manager Del Borgsdorf, Airport Director Ralph Tonseth and many local political, business and community leaders turned out for the ceremony, as passenger and commercial jets roared by overhead.

“Making Mineta San Jose an outstanding airport for our city and Silicon Valley is essential to our long-tern economic prosperity,” Gonzales said. “This project will help us keep San Jose’s competitive edge as we provide our travelers and businesses with greater convenience, comfort and security at an outstanding gateway to the world.”

A humorous new mascot, Wilbur the Monster—complete with SJC orange hardhat—was also introduced to represent the “monster project” in progress. “We created Wilbur to help our community and airport users understand the scope and detail of specific projects of the airport improvement program,” Tonseth explained.

“This will be an extended and complex construction project that will bring many changes and disruptions before we’re done, and Wilbur will communicate a friendly and consistent approach for help and information,” he continued.

When complete, the North Concourse will offer state-of-the-art security and improved customer services for both travelers and businesses. The project will include a permanent automated baggage sortation and explosives detection system; currently these duties take place in temporary facilities. The addition of pre-boarding passenger security screening checkpoints will help reduce crowded conditions at Terminals A and C.

Visitors to the North Concourse, which according to artist’s renditions, will be long, bright and airy, will also encounter improved gates and hold rooms, better passenger amenities and an array of food, beverage and retail concession areas.

The Mineta San Jose International Airport is a self-supporting enterprise owned and operated by the City of San Jose.

Last year, it served 10.7 million passengers; it currently averages 192 flights per day on 12 domestic and international airlines. For more information about the North Concourse and other future airport renovations, visit www.sjc.org on the Internet or call (408) 501-0979.