Findorff to build $95 million terminal at Milwaukee airport

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A general contractor has been selected to build a new international terminal at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.

Earlier this year, J.H. Findorff & Son won the bid for general contractor of the $95.2 million plan to reconstruct Concourse E, an airport spokesperson, said. The airport has planned terminal reconstruction for years and wanted to start in 2020, but work was delayed by the pandemic.

The official timeline and project features haven’t been released yet, the spokesperson said. It’s not guaranteed construction will start in the summer, they added. Milwaukee County and airport officials said they will have to use federal funding to bring the Concourse E project over the line, meanwhile pandemic delays meant higher costs for construction and design.

Findorff will oversee building a new international terminal building that will be attached to the main terminal building, a Wisconsin Project Center post showed. The overall project includes site work, excavation, selective demolition, construction and fueling system work, an advertisement showed. The project is split into four different bid packages.

Gilbane Building Company will serve as the project construction manager. Alliiance provided architecture services. Lannon-based HM Brandt has been hired to demolish the concourse building, airport officials said.

In April, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Committee on Finance approved the airport to be able to spend up to $95.2 million on the project.

The project was originally approved for $55 million in 2019, Milwaukee County Department of Transportation officials said. However, construction costs jumped roughly $38 million, and design increased from $4.5 million to $7.1 million, officials added.

In March, Brian Dranzik, director of Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, told county supervisors that construction of the international airport could start in August 2025. The project would last two years after that, he added.

Airport officials want to use state and federal grants and airport funds to pay for construction, and the airport expects making a request for the final year of terminal grant funding if offered this year, officials noted.

Concourse E was built in the late 1960s and closed in 2016. Plans called for a larger terminal with more capacity to support international and domestic arrivals.

A $75 million, 337,000-square-foot cargo facility at the south edge of the airport is underway with ARCO/Murray as the builder. That project is expected to wrap up in 2026.

Waukesha-based Zenith Tech Inc. is working on a $17.2 million pedestrian bridge and expansion at the Milwaukee Airport Rail Station, near the midpoint of the Amtrak Hiawatha service. The project was scheduled for completion in June 2025.