Jim Fair
Dave Edwards (front, second from left), commissioners and executives representating firms that constructed the Rental Car Customer Center participated in the ribbon cutting Monday.
Jim Fair
Customers at Hertz were maneuvering around the ribbon cutting ceremony this morning at GSP.
Jim Fair
"This is the first of many milestones we will celebrate over the coming months."
Minor Shaw
Chairwoman, GSP Board Commissioners
The Rental Car Customer Center had its ribbon cutting today at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, symbolically representing the first completed project within Phase I of Wingspan, a four-year $115 million terminal improvement project.
“We are very excited about the opening of the Rental Car Customer Center because it provides a convenient, one-stop destination for our customers,” said GSP President and CEO Dave Edwards. “With the completion of this project, passengers will start to see the effect Wingspan will have on the efficiency of the airport.”
The ceremony took place on the second floor of Parking Garage A, where Budget and Hertz is housed. Avis, Enterprise and National are on the first floor. Commissioners were given a tour of the facilities after the ceremony and of the public restrooms installed on the first floor.
The rental car agencies were previously housed inside the south end of the terminal across from the baggage claim. The new facility opened Feb. 17.
The rental car facility is likely to come in at $3.3 million, $200,000 under budget. “We feel good about this fact,” Edwards said.
“This is the first of many milestones we will celebrate over the coming months,” said Minor Shaw, Board Commissioner. “Wingspan is truly about elevating the Upstate.”
The next enabling project will include the addition of food, beverage and retail outlets in the south end of the terminal, the addition of a third baggage carousel and construction of a covered walkway connecting the terminal to Parking Garage A.
“I’ve always had admiration for GSP. Completion of (the rental car facility) is the first step of the airport improvement program and the grandeur of the terminal,” said Joe Pazdan, principal, McMillan Pazdan Smith.
While media were recording the event, passengers were maneuvering to the rental car counters. Dan Coggins, from Ocean City, N.J., arrived at GSP to visit Clemson, where he will be a student in the fall. “It seems like it’s smarter to put the car rental and parking garage at one location.”
Coggins echoed a comment Edwards told the commissioners earlier. “I didn’t see much construction or had any interference,” he said.
During the commissioners meeting Edwards said, “We have heard from several businessmen and they said we have done an exceptional job not impacting on construction.”
The projected finish for Wingspan is January 2016.