Improved Reading Airport terminal. Please click on the image above to see a larger version in a new window.

Reading Regional Airport may be best known for the Reading Airshow. A former military airfield also known as Spaatz Field, it has hosted many of aviation's fast movers and bigshots: The Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Golden Knights, Bob Hoover. It is also home to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum, which restores and operates historic aircraft. Now, after decades of worldwide fame with airshow enthusiasts the airport is gaining popularity with local air travelers.

Passenger enplanements topped 57,000 in 2000, up 26 percent over the year before and reversing a trend of declining passenger use. Best of all, studies suggest more and more people will use Reading Regional in coming years.

BH/BA's preliminary architectural/engineering design proposed adding more than 15,000 square feet to the existing 17,536-sf terminal. One design option was to replace boarding area canopies with ground-level jetways. Those telescoping moveable boarding tunnels would permit passengers to get on and off turboprop and regional jet aircraft without exposure to wind and weather.

The building design included a new facade with 3,650 square feet of new passenger ticketing area along with another 3,000 square feet of covered walkways. Another option was a glass-roofed skylight canopy that spans the terminal entrance road to shelter travelers as they get in and out of their cars at the new Reading Regional. The street side of the new structure features nine diamond-shaped glass panels that are etched with a time-line history depicting vintage aircraft that have been seen at this airport that's been repeatedly improved through decades of aviation history. The design's contemporary facade has created a new image for the airport, fulfilling a major goal of the Authority.

The plans added another 10,400 square feet of new construction on the airfield side of the terminal -- much of it for a new 200-passenger departure lounge and a baggage claim area complete with a racetrack-shaped baggage claim carousel for arriving passengers. Those changes facilitated passenger movements while tightening control in security areas of the airport.

The architectural design also expanded Reading Airport's Wild Wings Restaurant, by roughly 50 percent. It was expanded to serve an increase in air travelers as well as local patrons who have helped make the establishment a popular place and a very successful airport tenant. Improvements also upgraded kitchen equipment and food preparation areas.

"Functional and spatial deficiencies were apparent in the existing terminal," said BH/BA's project manager for the Reading Airport design. "Our design accommodated 200 peak hour passengers and corrected the functional conflicts of the existing terminal."

The new passenger area design followed thorough study of the existing facility and passenger movements by Buchart-Horn's chief aviation planner.

A four-phase construction design permited airport operations to continue during the improvement period.

The first phase established temporary departure lounge and baggage claim areas in a conference room and an unused ticketing area. It also started construction on the new entrance.

Phase two facilitated completion of the new entrance and the new departure lounge and baggage claim areas on the airfield side of the expanded terminal.

Completion of the new baggage claim areas and departure lounge and the addition to the east end of the front of the building comprised phase three.

The final phase provided for completion of the building facade, restaurant expansion and renovations to the airline and administration office areas that were temporarily pressed into service as construction-period departure and baggage claim facilities.

The comprehensive action plan provided by the design team also provided the authority with future opportunities to grow along with the expanding economy of the greater Reading area. Plans allow for future construction of a second level boarding area that could accommodate jetways for commercial airline service.