The damage caused to Concourse C at Lambert-St. Louis International (STL) by a tornado April 22 will take about a year to repair.
The airport has received preliminary engineering reports that support the restoration of the existing concourse; the work could take nine to 12 months.
“The structure is intact,” Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge told St. Louis Airport Commission at its monthly meeting. “The roof has to be replaced and even the membrane has to be replaced. That is critical. We’re trying to get that out to bid because we need that to be under a new roof before we can start construction.”
The tornado also blew out most of the original floor-to-ceiling windows dating from 1956 in Terminal 1. Hamm-Niebruegge says the preliminary estimate for that restoration project is four to six months, and the window framing may need to be replaced to fit more modern glass materials that fall under new building codes.
“We would like to obviously keep the original curtain wall to shorten the time frame, but we don’t know the answer to that yet,” Hamm-Niebruegge says.
The window frames were boarded up within 48 hours after the tornado.
While Concourse C is closed, airlines and concessionaires will operate at their temporary locations on Concourses B and D; their operations were relocated within 72 hours of the tornado. Concourse A and Terminal 2 were not impacted by the twister.
