Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport (MKE) is poised to begin construction of a new $95.2-million international terminal with the team of Gilbane and Oxeland Group LLC serving as construction manager at-risk. 

Site work is expected to begin in early August for the 55,700-sq-ft two-gate terminal that will be located on the site of an existing unused concourse and will triple the capacity of the airport’s current international facility, a standalone building that has been in operation for a half-century without provisions for outbound flights, according to the airport. 

HM Brandt, LLC, of Lannon, Wis., is slated to begin demolition of the existing concourse in mid-September, while J.M. Findorff & Son, Inc., will begin construction of the new terminal and fueling systems in December. Oshkosh AeroTech, LLC, will install the new terminal’s jet bridges that will accommodate larger, long-haul aircraft. According to a Wisconsin Bid Network listing, the project has a 25% DBE participation goal.

Planning for a new international terminal has been underway for more than a decade. The original plan to begin construction in 2020 was shelved due to the pandemic. The procurement process was reinitiated last year, albeit with a higher estimated price tag due to design changes and escalating construction costs, requiring the airport to seek additional funding from federal aviation grant programs, according to local media reports. State grants and airport revenues also will be used to fund the project.

In a separate project at MKE, construction is underway with ARCO/Murray as design-builder, on a new 337,000-sq-ft air cargo facility being developed as a public-private partnership with Dallas-based Crow Holdings. Located on a site formerly occupied by the 440th Airlift Wing, a now-inactive U.S. Air Force Reserve unit, the project includes a dedicated air cargo building, a new Milwaukee County Highway Maintenance Facility to support county and state transportation needs, and enhancements to adjacent taxiways to improve accessibility for wide-body cargo aircraft. 

The facility will have the capacity to accommodate five B747-400 aircraft concurrently, and provide shippers with an alternative to Illinois cargo hubs, according to the airport.