Tampa Bay turns out for TPA’s Airside D public listening sessions
Residents in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties share their ideas for the traveling experience at the $1.5 billion project, Tampa International Airport’s first new Airside in nearly 20 years.
Seasoned travelers from across Tampa Bay brought their very best ideas for Airside D to a series of three public listening sessions that Tampa International Airport hosted during the month of July.
The Airport conducted meetings at locations in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties to ask the community for thoughts on what they’d like to experience in TPA’s first new Airside in nearly 20 years.
Dozens of people attended each meeting and shared suggestions ranging from the practical (more charging stations and cupholders) to the dazzling (a rainwater-fed waterfall cascading from the rooftop).
Each session included a presentation about the current progress on the $1.5 billion Airside D project and an interactive program conducted by community partners Collaborative Labs at St. Petersburg College. The sessions were free to attend and asked participants a series of questions designed to elicit creative feedback, resulting in lively small-group discussions among residents and TPA employees and generating hundreds of comments.
Among the many suggestions:
- A lush tropical garden with ponds full of native plants and fish
- Sleeping pods or nap rooms for weary travelers
- A quiet space to get away from sensory overload
- Interactive stations with travel information and directions
- Exhibits highlighting local artists, historical figures and sports teams
- Building with sustainable materials and relying on renewable energy
TPA’s Airside D Steering Committee, a group of Airport employees from across departments who have been using their expertise to make decisions about how the project will proceed, were in attendance at each meeting to help collect comments. They will review the ideas for the project, which is currently at the 60 percent design stage.
“It’s heartwarming to see so many engaged residents of Tampa Bay come out and join in the discussion about their hometown Airport,” said TPA Chief Development Officer Smitha Radhakrishnan, who presented each of the three events. “We wanted to see what people were looking to experience at Airside D, because they will be the ones using it, and the community did not disappoint. We will be reviewing their wonderful feedback closely.”
While not all the proposals can be implemented, the feedback will help inform the design process, which is scheduled to be finalized this December.
Airside D will be a state-of-the-art, 16-gate Airside terminal for international and domestic routes. The project is led by construction company Hensel Phelps, with Architecture and Engineering company HNTB Corporation, in association with Gensler. The design is currently scheduled to be finalized by the end of 2025, with Airside D scheduled to be open to the public in 2028.
For more information, check AirsideD.com and sign up for our monthly Airside D newsletter.
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