GN, Iqaluit seek agreement on airport redevelopment

An Airbus prototype cargo jet touches down at Iqaluit’s airport in January, 2010. The airport’s iconic yellow terminal building, seen in the background, could soon be replaced by a new $40-million terminal big enough to handle booming passenger volumes. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

A massive overhaul of the Iqaluit airport, including the construction of a new $40-million terminal building, could dramatically alter the Federal Road streetscape, according to documents obtained by Nunatsiaq News.

A draft copy of the new airport master plan shows the new terminal and a parking lot would occupy the site where the Nunavut Arctic College residence, sometimes known as the Old Residence or the Federal Building, now stands. The plan would also see the demolition of another nearby government office.

That’s a concern to planners at Iqaluit city hall, who worry about the loss of 10,000 square metres of office and institutional space, says a response to the master plan authored by Michele Bertol, the city’s director of planning and lands.

“The demolition of these buildings will produce a significant amount of waste, which the City’s landfill cannot accommodate,” reads the city’s response. “It is essential that the plan address this issue.”

The city also wants to see the location of the new terminal moved slightly to the southeast to allow a new turning loop to better line up with existing roads in the area.

John Graham, the director of the Iqaluit airport, said the draft master plan has gone back to LPS Avia Consulting for revisions. The city’s input will be included in the final version, he said.

And Graham added the demolition of the Old Residence is not a done deal, despite the city’s worries.

“There have been rumours going around I’m going to knock down the Federal Building and stuff like that,” Graham said. “This [new terminal] building can go there without actually doing that.”

The master plan also calls for a new taxiway and warehouse space that would angle off to the North of the existing apron. Graham said that’s needed because “every single aviation lot has been developed.”

This part of the plan also appeals to the city, because it would be built on top of the contaminated North 40 site. City officials see the project as a way to get the site cleaned up and redeveloped.

The plan also includes space for long term expansions in a decade or more, that would be located to the west of the existing runway. There are also some tweaks to the airport boundaries that appear to turn over some land in the West 40 area to the city.

In the Legislature March 15, Peter Taptuna, the minister of Eocnomic Development and Transportation, said Iqaluit needs a new terminal to accommodate changes to airline fleets, safety practices and security rules.

The new terminal is also needed to meet growing passenger volumes, which Taptuna predicted will double from 115,000 per year in 2009, to 220,000 in 2020.

Taptuna said he hopes to table a final version of the plan by the end of March.

Once the plan’s finished, the Government of Nunavut then has to find the money to pay for the project. An ED&T document issued in April, 2009, pegged the cost of the new terminal at $40 million.

“I’m always optimistic,” Graham said.