Plans Debuted for Detroit Metro's New North Terminal

ROMULUS, Mich. -- An architectural company has unveiled plans for a new, two-story terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport with 26 gates and 50,000 square feet of retail space to open in 2008.

It will be built on the site of the now-closed Davey Terminal, which is being demolished this fall.

Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning on Thursday displayed plans for the new North Terminal facade to the Wayne County Airport Authority. The project will cost about $400 million, The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press said.

The North Terminal will handle fights for airlines other than Northwest Airlines, which handles about 75 percent of the airport's passengers and operates from the McNamara Terminal, which opened in 2002.

The North Terminal will be used by airlines that currently use the Smith Terminal, which opened in 1957. The Smith Terminal now handles about 6 million passengers a year, or about 20 percent of the airport's passengers.