Airport chief outlines improvements

Up until about two weeks ago, the wireless internet provide by Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport could be frustratingly slow due to traffic from laptops, tablets and smartphones.

"It's worse to have bad WiFi then no WiFi," said SRQ Airport President and CEO Rick Piccolo during an Airport Advisory Commission meeting Wednesday. Piccolo used the opportunity to announce the $90,000 project that buffered the system with 10 times the bandwidth, and update board members on nearly $35 million of current and future improvements at the airport.

Along with new companion restrooms and charging stations for the above-mentioned gadgets, the airport has added new carpeting and flooring, ceiling tiles and lighting, and re-finished kiosks and check-in counters during roughly $20 million worth of terminal renovations. SRQ Airport Vice President of Special Projects and Development Mark Stuckey said construction on the second floor concourse and gates should be finished in July.

A $2.5 million project aimed at expanding the airport’s customs capacity — which is vital in securing more international interest — will be complete next summer as well, several months after Air Canada begins year-round service to Toronto from SRQ.

“I think this is a significant milestone, and I think it will force their competitors to look harder at our market as well,” Piccolo said of the new routes.

Plans for a new air traffic control tower are slated to go out to bid in the first quarter of 2015, with construction expected to cost as much as $22 million. Piccolo said the project will free up more than 40 acres for development, and the design of the 140-foot tower will bring a more modern look to the airport.

“It's going to be noted in the region — that's pretty cool," said Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione.