Community members are invited to attend a set of presentations by architecture firms vying to design Columbus Municipal Airport’s new air traffic control tower.
The Landmark Columbus Foundation is hosting the presentations from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 30 at Helen Haddad Hall. There is no cost to attend, and registration is available at eventbrite.com.
The presentations will be from architecture firms shortlisted to sesign a new 100-foot-tall air traffic control tower for the airport three miles north of the city, according to Landmark Columbus officials. The project is supported by a grant from the Cummins Foundation Architecture Program and funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, Indiana Department of Transportation, and the City of Columbus.
According to Richard McCoy, the foundation’s executive director, the schedule for the event is as follows:
- 8:30 a.m. — Doors open
- 9 a.m. —Presentation by SO – IL Architects (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
- 10 a.m. — Presentation by Marlon Blackwell Architects (Fayetteville, Ark.)
- 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. — Break for lunch
- 1:30 p.m. Presentation by Howeler + Yoon (Boston, Mass.)
- 2:30 p.m. Presentation by Snow Kreilich (Minneapolis, Minn.)
The airport announced in September that it was working with the Cummins Foundation Architecture Program and had shortlisted the above firms for consideration, as well as Studio: indigenous from New Mexico. However, Studio: indigenous will not be presenting at the event, McCoy said.
“The way I understand things to work is the Cummins Foundation produces a list of five potential designers, and then the client, which in this case is airpark, is obligated to speak to all five of those,” he said. “And then airpark is then able to choose out of those five how they would like to proceed to go forward.”
Landmark Columbus’ primary role is to help promote and produce the presentation event, with firm selection ultimately decided by airport director Brian Payne and the Columbus Board of Aviation Commissioners, he said.
The Cummins Foundation Architecture Program, which is providing a grant for the control tower project, recommends architects and provides funds for the design portion of the architect fees for selected public projects to encourage architectural excellence in Bartholomew County.
Three of the firms being considered for the control tower — SO – IL, Snow Kreilich and Marlon Blackwell — were previously part of the foundation’s shortlist for Ivy Tech Community College – Columbus’s new main campus building, with the firms presenting concepts for the project in late 2019. IwamotoScott Architects of San Francisco was ultimately chosen to design the building, which was later named Moravec Hall and opened in 2022.
Snow Kreilich and Marlon Blackwell were also part of the foundation’s shortlist for firms to design a new Bartholomew County Annex building on State Street in 2014, with Snow Kreilich chosen for the project. However, the project was ultimately scrapped for financial reasons.
Additionally, McCoy noted that SO – IL was a 2019 Exhibit Columbus Miller Prize recipient, and Howeler + Yoon was a 2016 Miller Prize finalist.
“What’s interesting is all these firms are pretty known, they know Columbus,” he said. “I don’t know how much Columbus knows them.”
Each firm will have one hour to present.
According to Regina McIntyre, the city’s finance director, construction of the new tower is expected to get underway in 2024.
The city’s aviation board has hired Woolpert to complete the structural design of the new $11.5 million air traffic control tower . The new tower will replace the airport’s existing 80-year-old tower and will be upgraded to align with current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Control Tower standards, including sighting, backup cooling and power, security, fire and life safety, and FAA equipment.
Woolpert is also working with the airport to secure federal grant funding for the project.
Although the existing tower is still structurally sound and safe for use, there are some accessibility issues, and certain safety items — such as stair tread, height and width — are not up to current standards, airport officials have said.
“The Columbus Air Traffic Control Tower has been a staple since the military base of the 1940s, but it is in dire need of replacement to provide quality service to tenants and transient aircraft,” said Payne said earlier.
