Community-backed 'Option 2 plus' favored as Pitkin County advances terminal concept to schematic design
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Summary
Design team presented two conceptual terminal options and said task forces and public surveys favored 'Option 2 plus.' Staff plans to ask the Airport Advisory Board for an informal recommendation, then the BOCC will consider an informal resolution to move the design into schematics.
Designers presented the conceptual design and community engagement results for Aspen/Pitkin County Airport’s terminal modernization during the Jan. 13 joint meeting. The task forces, open houses and a public survey yielded strong engagement, and the team said community response and task force scoring favored Option 2 plus by roughly a 60/40 margin.
The Option 2 plus concept was described as a layout that preserves mountain views, emphasizes biophilic materials and daylighting, and introduces a separate ground transportation center out front of the terminal building. The ground transportation center is intended to improve multimodal access (including shuttles and future mass transit), provide seasonal concessions and bike facilities, and connect to parking below. The concept stacks key processing elements vertically to fit a long, narrow site while preserving the existing terminal during phasing.
Designers emphasized flexibility on passenger boarding bridges: the current basis of design allows seven gates and nine parking positions and keeps hold-room and apron elevations in a range that would permit either short jet bridges or ramp boarding, with a final decision to be made in schematic design. The terminal programming baseline assumes seven gates and nine parking positions; the design team noted the current documented conditioned square footage is about 55,000 square feet and that final conditioned area may vary depending on program decisions (TSA requirements, make-up rooms, baggage handling and other functional needs).
Sustainability and the Common Ground recommendations were central themes: the design team outlined an MSA (sustainability) framework and said aspirational certification targets will be revisited as decisions are refined and cost filters applied. The team said the Airport Advisory Board will discuss an informal recommendation on Thursday; the BOCC will consider an informal resolution on Jan. 28 to move the project into schematic design. Staff clarified that an informal resolution would not approve a final design but would confirm programmatic direction and allow schematic work to proceed.
Board members asked about mass, scale, and how the project would be presented to the public; designers said schematic design will produce renderings, elevations and perspectives to help stakeholders visualize massing and tradeoffs. Several commissioners stressed the need to be explicit about conditioned versus unconditioned square-foot calculations for public clarity.
