Airport Terminal Galas Range From First-Class to Coach

The John Wayne statue is squeaky clean. Artwork is being installed. The gift shops are stocking their shelves with everything from sweets to sweats. And with costly construction snafus behind them, Orange County officials plan to whoop it up this week with galas celebrating the completion of the $62-million Thomas F. Riley Terminal at John Wayne Airport.

“We’ve all worked very hard for a very long time,” said Courtney Wiercioch, the airport’s spokeswoman and special projects director. “It’s time to let the public enjoy this achievement.”

On Friday, while crews from McDonald’s were still putting the final touches on its airport burger boutiques and airlines installed computer equipment, officials waited nervously as county fire inspectors continued to watch over a nettlesome bug in the new terminal’s computerized automatic fire-suppression system. It finally worked right.

Weary but beaming airport officials were confident that a necessary certificate of occupancy would be issued in time to host a series of events, ranging from a media luncheon and tour to a $50-per-person, black-tie reception Friday night--all as a prelude to the terminal’s first use by commercial airlines Sept. 16.

And although the galas scheduled this week appear to be geared toward VIPs and others on the top rung of Orange County’s social ladder, airport officials insisted that the events target different segments of the public.

The massive, domed structure--part of the county’s biggest-ever public works project--will serve up to 8.4 million passengers per year, compared to the Edward J. (Eddie) Martin Terminal, built in 1967, which now serves 4.5 million passengers annually.

Grand opening festivities actually began with a children’s art reception Aug. 8, followed by a special video preview Aug. 23 for VIPs and sponsors of upcoming airport events. Last Thursday night, former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth addressed more than 100 members of the Young Presidents, a group of youthful entrepreneurs and corporate CEOs, who also saw a slide show presented by Airport Manager George Rebella.

On Tuesday, the same news media that perplexed county officials with a steady diet of bad news about construction problems and cost overruns at the new terminal will be treated to a luncheon at the Radisson Plaza Hotel and a guided tour of the 337,900-square-foot Riley terminal.

An inaugural arts exhibition, at which full-size color photographs of artwork commissioned for the new terminal, will be held during a wine and cheese reception scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Center in Costa Mesa.

Paintings, prints and sculptures selected for the terminal include “Airplanes,” by Doug Moran, an artist who pilots his own plane, “Parked Vehicles,” by Michael Chapman, and works by Frank Romero, George James and Stephanie Sanchez.

A crowd of the rich and not-so-rich will mingle at the black-tie, invitation-only reception Friday from 7 to 11 p.m. that will feature cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a sound-and-light spectacular. More than 4,000 invitations have been sent out, but sponsors said they had no idea yet how many people will actually attend.

Saturday, however, is the official dedication day and public open house.

There will be a VIP brunch in the terminal. Then a Boeing 757 donated by an airline will take wing bearing all five county supervisors (in the first-class section) and an entourage of airport boosters who paid $250 each in advance. The hourlong flight will take the plane out over Catalina Island and then back to the new terminal.

The open house, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will include an on-stage dedication ceremony at 11:30 a.m., free tours of the facility, visits to the airport rescue and firefighting station on the airfield’s west side, airline exhibits, free gifts, prizes, food, vintage aircraft displays, Disney character photos, postal stamp sales and a pictorial stamp cancellation, plus a series of performances by dance troupes, musicians and magicians.

Finally, the airport staff will reward itself with a barbecue on the roof bof a parking garage on Sunday.

Most of the events are for the public, Wiercioch said. Referring to the black-tie reception, she explained that it is for that segment of the population that was affiliated in some way with the project, ranging from airport contractors and subcontractors to former airport managers and even people who helped prepare the environmental impact report for the airport’s $310-million improvement program.

“The art program serves another group of people, and the dedication and open house are for everyone,” Wiercioch said.

It all comes after a 5 1/2-month delay in completion, legal battles between the county and prime contractor Taylor Woodrow California Construction Ltd., problems that ranged from “lost” marble to improperly aligned support columns, and change orders that so far have boosted the cost to more than $62 million, give or take a few million pending a final accounting.

The new terminal is named for Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, in whose district the airport is located.

Riley said he has been visiting the site almost every day to reassure himself that the terminal will be ready for this week’s celebrations.

“I’m very excited,” Riley said. “This is one of the best things I’ve been associated with in my whole life.”