Officials exhale at the end of a major $1.6B project, with one final, 16-month phase to go.
Don’t call it a grand opening.
Officials with the Port of Portland publicly unveiled the new terminal at Portland International Airport this week, starting with a low-key “friends and family” event that drew over 1,000 people, including many project workers and grandees like Gov. Tina Kotek.
Conspicuously absent were a ribbon and giant scissors.
“One thing we hear a lot from people is that this place feels like their home — their place. So a ‘housewarming’ felt more appropriate,” says Curtis Robinhold, executive director of the Port of Portland. “You don’t invite people over to a new home and cut a ribbon. It felt so un-Portland to have a ribbon cutting.”
This week the airport officially unveiled its expanded main terminal with 9-acre mass-timber roof, 20 dining and shopping establishments and other pre-security features. This phase of the $2 billion upgrade doubles the airport’s capacity, in addition to significantly improving its style quotient.
The newly unveiled portion is 600,000 square feet, or about 60% of the total project size. The next phase will tackle the remaining 40% — mainly areas at opposite sides of the terminal that formerly held TSA screening stations. That phase is expected to open in February 2026.
There were hiccups along the way. The project was originally supposed to conclude in May but was delayed after several safety incidents that resulted in no injuries but rattled the project team.
So why such a grand project? Why a decadelong timeline with such heavy traveler impacts? Robinhold says PDX was on track to outgrow itself and needed to be updated to expand capacity and improve seismic resilience. In the final designs, Port officials opted for several costlier options, like using wood and sourcing it all from family-owned and tribal forests. But these decisions were driven by values, he says.
Pre-security shopping and dining have long been a part of PDX. Until it closed in 2021, the Clocktower Plaza (often called the Oregon Market) behind the old ticket counter was popular with passengers, and Port officials say focus groups wanted to see it return.
Sometime around 3 a.m. Wednesday, the first wall came down, baggage conveyors were switched on and passengers started to slowly stream in. Dozens of blue-vested airport docents and a couple jacketed therapy llamas were on hand to assist as a pianist played hits by Elton John. By mid-morning, the former construction site resembled a typical bustling airport terminal.
“It all honestly went off without a major hitch,” Robinhold says. “One kid puked at four in the morning on the terrazzo. We had a little pipe split at Stumptown [Coffee Roasters] but nothing major. This is what we do every day.”
Surveying the scene from a second-floor terrace was Sharron van der Meulen, managing partner at ZGF Architects and a creative force behind the showstopping centerpiece mass-timber ceiling. It was a first chance to register traveler reactions. The little figures walking below are real people, not models in a rendering.
“I feel giddy,” she says. “I’m just overjoyed with everybody’s reaction. It’s incredible. It’s still PDX. But it’s bigger. It’s better. Because of the use of wood, it really feels like home. It’s phenomenal.”
Just like real people, their opinions differ widely and can’t be accounted for.
Eric and Betty Staniak stood in place admiring the overhead view.
“We’ve been looking at this from afar, from the lounge. It’s been just endless construction,” she says. “It’s so worth the wait and it feels very Portland modern. I’m looking up at these beautiful videos that are showing cultural things from around Oregon, and I think that’s a lovely touch.”
The Portland natives split time between Oregon and Nevada. Knowing the terminal opened Wednesday, they arrived early to take it all in.
“All that time, it was hard to imagine what this was going to be,” Eric says. “We couldn’t figure it out. So it’s neat to see how it all came together.”
Most people interviewed liked the new look and layout. All preferred it to the construction site they had to navigate for five years.
“It’s just gorgeous,” says visiting Phoenix resident Shelby England. “We were just saying how wonderful it all looks.”
The feeling wasn’t universal. Arriving home, Vancouver resident Dean Robinson was unimpressed.
“I don’t like it,” Robinson says. “It’s terrible. For one thing, it took too long. Second thing, it was over budget. Third, they’re going to have to redo it all at some point. The whole process to get people through here — I’m already lost. When I flew out, it was the old, crappy airport. I fly back and it’s worse.”
One regular business traveler who declined to give his full name offered qualified praise.
“I mean this is nice and all, but the real test is going to be at security and if I can actually get to my gate without a hike. Checking in has been a pain in the ass. Going through customs is still a pain in the ass here. But yeah, it’s nice that they finally got their s–t together.
“It’s the first pro-business thing they’ve done in this state in 10 years.”
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