Contract Awarded for ``Gateway LAX'' Enhancements.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 1999--

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners Tuesday awarded a contract for $27,811,844 to Swinerton & Walberg Constructors, Los Angeles, for Phase I of the "Gateway LAX" enhancement project at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

This is part of a $112-million aesthetic upgrade, which is the most extensive to be undertaken at LAX since the 1984 Olympics. The upgrades will include a trademark-style series of lighted columns along Century Boulevard leading into the airport; new landscaping; a new public address system for the Lower/Arrivals level; public art installations; new signage and graphics identifying passenger terminals, airlines, parking and roadways through a bold, color-coded system; and other practical and aesthetic improvements.

Swinerton & Walberg's contract calls for construction of the lighted columns in the median of Century Boulevard and at the intersection of Century and Sepulveda Boulevards. The contract also includes landscaping, irrigation and prominent "LAX" signs. The company also will create a park-like setting along the south side of Century Boulevard and, where practical, along the north side.

Construction is scheduled to begin in January and it is anticipated that a significant number of upgrades will be completed in time for the peak summer tourist season.

"The `Gateway LAX' project will secure the airport's place as a sophisticated, world-class landmark," said John J. Agoglia, president of the Board of Airport Commissioners. "LAX is our city's portal to the world, so we should make it the best it can be for the more than 61 million passengers who utilize this airport each year."

"The idea that we are creating an attractive, more convenient LAX, and creating jobs to go along with meeting this goal, is very exciting to all of us at LAWA," added Lydia H. Kennard, interim executive director, who oversees LAX and three other City airport operations at Ontario, Van Nuys and Palmdale.

The entire "Gateway LAX" project will be financed with short-term bonds to be repaid with airport revenues from parking and concession fees. The design firm of Ted Tokio Tanaka, Marina del Rey, provided the concepts. Swinerton & Walberg is among several firms expected to be hired to develop various projects within the overall program.