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Board halts use of white tile in west concourse, orders replacement for west restrooms
Summary
After staff and directors said white tile shows dirt quickly and increases cleaning burden, the board voted not to continue with white tile in the west concourse and directed staff to pick alternatives and provide cost/schedule impacts; a $31,443 option to use a gray tile in west restrooms was priced to stay on schedule.
The board confronted a mounting maintenance concern over recently selected white tile for the renovated terminal after staff demonstrated the product’s rapid soiling. "One morning... after 19 people had used the area... within seven minutes you couldn't even tell the floor had been cleaned," a staff member said, illustrating how white tile and grout show footprints and water spots quickly and require intensive cleaning.
Design staff presented three pricing options for changing restrooms to a darker, variegated tile. The most urgent choice was to change the west-concourse renovation restrooms before installation; that option was priced at $31,443 and was in stock for a short lead time, which would preserve the project schedule. A larger change to replace tile already installed on the concourse would cost substantially more (options priced at roughly $53,000 to $110,000 depending on scope and demolition needs).
Board members stressed schedule and cost implications but agreed it would be a mistake to install material the airport cannot maintain. "We don't want to continue with what we know doesn't work," one director said. The board voted not to continue the white tile on the west side of the terminal and directed staff and the design team to present up to two alternate tile options (products, pricing, and lead times) by the end of the week and to return for a special meeting to finalize the selection.
Next steps: staff will present two stock tile alternatives with pricing and schedule implications; the airport will pause west‑side tile installation pending the selection so as to avoid rework and schedule disruption.
