As the $8 billion LaGuardia Airport redevelopment project nears the finish line, it continues to draw international acclaim.
The Port Authority announced Thursday, July 7, that the new Terminal B has won the National Academy of Construction’s inaugural Recognition of Special Achievement Award, which celebrates the creativity, innovation and vision behind the construction of a world-class airport terminal.
“The redevelopment of the LaGuardia Terminal B is truly remarkable,” National Academy of Construction President and CEO Wayne Crew said. “Its impact will last for generations. As the initial recipient of this award, the Terminal B project and all involved are to be applauded for the overwhelming efforts in making both aviation and construction history.”
The new Terminal B, which opened in January, and the opening of Delta’s new Terminal C in June, represent the near completion of the project just six years after it broke ground.
“The National Academy of Construction’s Recognition of Special Achievement Award represents what can happen when we think big and build our infrastructure with an overall vision and a master plan,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said. “Six years ago, when we broke ground on a new LaGuardia Airport, few believed that LaGuardia would be reborn as world-class. But here we are, accepting another major award for a world-class terminal in a world-class airport. We have truly gone from worst to best with a whole new LaGuardia Airport.”
In December, UNESCO announced that Terminal B was selected by a blue-ribbon international panel of architects, designers and artists for the prestigious Prix Versailles as the best new airport in the world for 2021.
Confirming that the transformation resulted in a state-of-the-art, world-class airport fit for the New York region. The reconstruction was carried out while air traffic continued unabated and its historic community benefits included more than $2 billion in contracts to minority and women-owned business enterprises and $850 million in contracts to local Queens-based businesses and hundreds of permanent jobs for area residents.
“The inaugural award from the National Academy of Construction celebrates the creativity and the innovation embodied in the new Terminal B, from the pioneering construction strategies used to build it to the extraordinary community benefit derived from the development of this new world-class terminal,” Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole said. “Across our region, at Newark Liberty and at JFK, we are holding all our airport redevelopment projects to the same high standards.”
A formal presentation of the award is set for the Academy’s annual meeting this fall in Scottsdale, Arizona. The organization is comprised of industry leaders who have made outstanding, life-long contributions to the design, construction and engineering sectors.
