Fargo Airport Authority Director: We are looking at plans to build a parking garage

(Fargo, ND) -- Hector International Airport is considering plans to build a parking structure for travelers in our region. 

Shawn Dobberstein, Fargo's Airport Authority Director, joined WDAY Radio's Thursday's with Tony. He spoke about a proposed plan for a parking garage that could be built at Fargo's Airport. Dobberstein says the airport is considering updating their master plan construction project to include the parking garage, but it would come at a heavy cost.

"The costs out there are anywhere from $30-some thousand per spot up to $50-some thousand per spot, Sioux Falls is around $62,000 per spot," said Dobberstein." Don't get me wrong, we'd love to have a parking garage, and maybe at some point in the not-to-distant future we will."

Dobberstein says the proposed parking garage would house approximately 500 to 700 spots, but would also be built in spaces where parking is currently located. He says the parking garage would be built across the road from the main entrance, something that could lead to short-term trade-offs. 

"When you talk about a 500 gross garage, or a 500 net, you have to take into consideration how many existing parking spots you are taking out of revenue production today," said Dobberstein, who later said approximately 100 or more spots would be unusable while the garage is under construction.

Dobberstein says fees to park in the garage could be up to $28 per day. He later says this is a price that many fliers would be unwilling to put up with, according to price surveys sent to people in the region.