The last carpet square has been removed at the Springfield-Branson National Airport. And a ceremony was held to mark the occasion.
Wednesday's event began with people dressed in black laying flowers on the last carpet square. Then SGF Director of Aviation Dave Schaumburg gave a speech. In a setting reminiscent of a funeral, he jokingly said, "if you guys will turn in your hymnals to..."
He talked about how an airport team has spent four years thinking about the carpet and deciding what to replace it with, then doing the actual project. That required careful planning since the airport remained open the entire time.
"It's taken a lot of impact to not only the traveling public — we've got tenants here. We've got a lot of employees that were just continually impacted by the various phases of construction," he said, "and so, it's gotten a lot easier over the last month or so as the phases are getting smaller and we're getting down to the final piece. But early on, it was very disruptive construction in the face of a growing, busy terminal building — was impactful to everybody. So, we're thrilled to be at this point where we're wrapping up and unveiling the final product."
The ceremony ended with the pulling up of the last carpet square.
Schaumburg said the iconic carpeting depicting water, grass and rocks was difficult to clean, and more than 15 million people had walked across it, so it was time to replace it.
The new terrazzo floor is easier for passengers to roll their suitcases across, and it also reflects the Ozarks' outdoors. It's expected to last more than seven decades.
"I know that this is a generational project," Schaumburg said. "This is something that's going to last a long time. And my hope is that what we've put in today will be something my kids' kids are going to be running across as they travel and see the world."
The airport has had fun with the old carpet – early this year, unused carpet squares were offered for sale to the public in a fundraiser that netted around $10,000 for the Springfield Regional Arts Council.
The new floor is expected to be finished this month.
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