The board overseeing JAA has sanctioned funds to restore the hourly parking facility at Jacksonville airport following a destructive fire.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Wednesday, the Jacksonville Airport Authority gave the nod to its financial plan for the upcoming year, with the primary expenditure allocated to repair the hourly parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport.
The aftermath of a fire that led to the destruction of passenger cars, flight cancellations, and a temporary airport closure is imposing additional costs on the Jacksonville Airport Authority for the reconstruction of the garage.
In a unanimous vote, the JAA board of directors approved a $38 million budget to bring the south side of the hourly parking garage back to working order.
JAA officials are estimating a loss of 500 parking spots due to the southern section of the garage remaining closed after the fire.
Since Wednesday morning, the total number of cars left in the garage has gone from 18 to three. The only cars left behind are the BMW L3, which caught fire, and the two vehicles left and right of it.
The investigation into the cause of the fire is still underway, and one major thing JAA is sorting out is how the multiple companies like BMW, the car’s manufacturer, or the valet company, involved will be held financially accountable.
“We don’t have any specifics of who’s going to be paying for what, but we want to get that back, obviously, as quickly as we can to regroup all of those spaces that we lost during this period,” said JAA External Affairs Vice President Michael Stewart. “Because it’s going to be a rough estimate, a year and a half to get it back to operational.”
JAA officials said this is the most damaging accident that’s happened in the airport’s history.
Officials are also exploring options to retrofit sprinklers in the airport’s current and future parking garages, though they aren’t sure if they will move forward with those blueprints at this time.
