Indianapolis Airport Terminal Opens on November 12, 2008

The city of Indianapolis welcomes its latest architecturally stunning masterpiece with the opening of the new H. Weir Cook Terminal on November 12th. The really cool tidbit about this new airport terminal is that it expects to be the largest LEED-certified (green friendly) building in the Midwest and additionally 90% of the materials to build the facility came from within 500 miles.

The $1.1 billion project was financed by $120 million from Federal grants and the remaining through bonds that will be repaid through airport operation revenues. No state or local tax proceeds were used for its construction or operation. In addition it will SAVE airlines over $10 million in fuel each year because there will be less taxi time given the placement of the terminal to the runways.

One of the most talked about features of the new Indianapolis Airport terminal is the $4 million in art that runs throughout the terminal. Many of the works of art are from local artists; Tom Torluemke of Hammond who designed the terrazzo floors that joins the terminal to Concourses A & B or Greg Hull, an Indianapolis artist who teaches sculpture at the Herron School of Art who suspends a series of kinetic (moving) sculptures in the parking garage's five-story atrium. The picture on the left is from an artist in East Sussex, England and taken by my daughter at Visitor's Day. There are over 30 eye catching murals in glass and mosaic as well throughout the Indianapolis Airport.

The new Indianapolis airport terminal is 1.2 million sq ft, nearly double the old terminal size. Having a Users Guide will be beneficial! Both concourse A and B have 20 gates, two are International. The FAA Tower is the 3rd tallest in the United States. Perhaps the most controversal issue with the new terminal is the whole body imaging scanners costing $170,000 each. The cost isn't the controversy, the controversy is that passengers at random are selected to be viewed basically naked, although the faces are blurred and the images are erased as soon as the passenger is cleared.

Finally just a bit about what restaurants to expect at the new terminal...the list includes 96th Street Steakburgers, Harry & Izzy's, Schapiro, Wolfgang Puck and my personal favorite Cafe Patachou's.

If you are flying into our Indianapolis airport to relocate to our great city, we hope you will review both Indianapolis and Fishers Real Estate with us!

Cindy "in Indy" Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775