Officials of the V.I. Port Authority held a double celebration at the Cyril E. King Airport Thursday: the completion of a new three-story parking garage and a tribute to VIPA engineer Dale A. Gregory, who helped initiate the project in 2014.
The Dale A. Gregory Transportation Center was dedicated, with the honoree, now retired, wielding an oversized pair of scissors to get the job done. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach, Port Authority Director Carlton Dowe and members of the Legislature were on hand as witnesses.
The honoree sat quietly in a chair facing the audience at the end of a line of speakers and dignitaries. After nearly 40 years of service as an engineer, Gregory oversaw the initial phases of the project and then handed it over to his successor.
VIPA’s current engineering chief, Preston Beyer, called completion of the transportation center project a first step toward a total redesign of King Airport. “This was viewed as the very first step in modernizing the Cyril King Airport,” Beyer said.
His remarks and those of others were presented on the second floor of the three-story, 320-space parking garage. Port Authority spokeswoman Monife Brathwaite said Thursday is noted as the official day when Phase 2 of the transportation center project was officially finished.
It also marked the 1,093rd completed recovery project addressing damage caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, according to Adrienne Octalien-Williams, director of the Office of Disaster Recovery.
Total cost of the project: $33.2 million.
“This milestone represents not just the construction (for) our community. It’s a testament to the vision and collaboration of so many people, our dedicated team in this project from day one. We are thrilled to completely open this facility for pay starting next week,” Octalien-Williams said.
Phase 1 of the project began in 2014, but after the ceremony, Brathwaite explained that initial construction was met with major delays. Aside from the disruption of the worldwide supply chain experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic phase, there was also a catastrophic earthquake in Turkiye that delayed delivery of a component for concrete, she said.
But agency engineers and executives from A.T. Construction Solutions fought through the challenges and completed Phase 1 of the transportation center in April 2024. After that, she said, Phase 2 began and was done in a year.
Dowe said that VIPA learned about the need to carry out the kind of project that would meet the airport’s transportation needs years into the future. “Leadership isn’t easy, but sometimes leadership shows things that other people question; over time, you can see that some things turned out to be what was needed,” the VIPA director said.
Ricardo Nater, vice president for A.T. Construction, invited everyone attending the dedication ceremony to look around them and marvel at all that had been accomplished. “I’m very proud of what we’ve seen. I think we did it all. A lot of things have gone wrong, but we made it happen,” Nater said.
And the governor joined with Dowe in describing the sometimes contentious relationship between contractor and client along the way. In spite of it all, Dowe said, he valued the working relationship with A.T. Construction and would consider them as opportunities arise.
Sen. Avery Lewis represented the first branch of government at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “I’m really glad to see this completed, and these are the kinds of projects we really need to keep pushing,” he said.
And shortly after the ribbon was snipped, VIPA’s director said he was ready to get going on the next step in airport redesign.
“We’re designing probably in the next few weeks some more preliminary designs for the terminal itself. We’re looking at the second quarter of next year when all the permitting and everything is done to start construction over there,” Dowe said.
That includes resurfacing of the airport runway. The director said VIPA is keeping an eye on runway safety and indicated it may move up the priority list in the near future.
The governor concluded his remarks by saying, “It’s amazing how many good things are going on in the Virgin Islands all the time.”
He also congratulated Gregory, calling the dedication of the transportation center in his name “well deserved.”
