Travelers from across Tampa Bay have suggested ideas for Tampa International Airport’s Airside D in a series of three public listening sessions.
The airport conducted meetings to ask the community for thoughts on what they’d like to experience at the hub’s first new airside in nearly 20 years. Each session included a presentation about the current progress on the US$1.5bn Airside D project and an interactive program conducted by community partners Collaborative Labs at St Petersburg College.
Suggestions included sleeping pods or nap rooms for weary travelers, interactive stations with travel information and directions, a quiet space away from sensory overload, gardens with ponds full of native plants and fish, sustainable materials, renewable energy and exhibits highlighting local artists, historical figures and sports teams.
TPA’s Airside D Steering Committee, a group of airport employees from across departments who have been using their expertise to make decisions about how the project will proceed, were in attendance at each meeting to help collect comments. They will review the ideas for the project, which the airport says is currently at the 60% design stage. While not all the proposals can be implemented, the feedback will help inform the design process, which is scheduled to be finalized this December.
Airside D will be a 16-gate airside terminal for international and domestic routes. The project is led by construction company Hensel Phelps, with architecture and engineering company HNTB Corporation, in association with Gensler. The design is currently scheduled to be finalized by the end of 2025, with Airside D scheduled to be open to the public in 2028.
Read more about Tampa International Airport’s Airside D project here