LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- You might not recognize The Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport after a more than $100 million dollar transformation.
The current exterior of the building near the departures and arrivals is a beige concrete.
“It's not particularly welcoming,” said Seth Baliban, a traveler who was at the airport Wednesday.
The Louisville Regional Airport Authority released its first renderings of the possible construction plans. The building will look more modern with a glass and neutral color facade.
“We wanted folks to have a ‘wow’ factor from the outside,” said Natalie Chaudoin, public relations director for the the Louisville Regional Airport Authority.
Chaudoin said limestone will "give folks a strong sense of when they're in Louisville that they're here."
“I think it will be a great improvement,” Tregg Matthews said as he waited to pick up his son from Marine Corps boot camp. “I think it will be a welcoming site for everybody coming in and leaving to see it.”
Part of the project will update the moving walkways, escalators and elevators between the parking garage and baggage claim. Travelers will also be able to “walk straight out from baggage claim on covered walkways to the parking structure” to get to the upper level of the parking garage, Chaudoin said.
Other improvements are coming to the jet bridges, restrooms and an overhaul on the airport’s mechanical systems, like heating and cooling.
“Stuff people may not see but are obviously pretty important,” Chaudoin said.
The airport has international status because of flights from UPS, but soon, passengers could travel internationally, Chaudoin said.
“In order to do that, we have to have a federal inspection port of entry, so that would take four, five or six years to even build,” she said.
Airport officials hope construction will take off in late 2019 or early 2020, and although there is no set timeline on when it will be completed, the goal is to be finished in five or six years.
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