Hampton, on the City Council since 2015 and appointed to the Authority in 2021, was elected its president July 20. Pasadena, Burbank and Glendale created the joint powers agency in 1977 to own and operate the airport.
The 355,000-square-foot terminal has an estimated cost of just under $1.3 billion. No state, county or local funds from Burbank, Glendale or Pasadena will pay for it, according to the Authority, which is financing the project through airport revenue bonds, federal grants, Passenger Facility Charge revenue and Authority funds.
The terminal keeps the airport’s 14 gates.
“We’re not expanding on that,” Hampton said in a Sept. 26 interview.
Burbank voters approved the replacement terminal through Measure B in 2016 with 70 percent of the vote, and a 2016 amendment to the Joint Powers Agreement requires a supermajority, including at least two commissioners from each city, to increase the number of commercial airline gates.
The Authority describes the terminal as a safety project rather than a capacity expansion.
The terminal sits about 800 feet from the nearest runway, which brings it into compliance with FAA standards, and is designed to meet current earthquake and ADA accessibility standards.
Jones Coffee and Perry’s Joint, which Hampton called “two Pasadena staples,” are among the restaurants slated for the terminal under Metropolitan Culinary Services, its Burbank-based food and beverage concessionaire.
Hampton said Devonna Banks of Pasadena’s Butter Bakery will have the first slot in a community pop-up space, and that the food and retail concessionaires run programs local businesses can apply to.
Hampton also cited the terminal’s “When We Reflect,” a steel mesh and mirrored ribbon piece by Glenn Kaino, whose family was held at the Santa Anita Assembly Center during World War II. The work “pays homage to those in our community that were interned,” Hampton said.
With the Rose Bowl set to host Olympic soccer semifinals and finals in 2028, Hampton said that for LA28 travelers it “would be a really, really, really smart move to fly into Burbank because it would be less congested.”
The terminal’s main entrance is at Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way. A new parking garage opens with it, and the rental car center remains at the Regional Intermodal Transit Center, with shuttles to the terminal.
For more about the new terminal, see elevatebur.com.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
