McKinney’s new airport terminal is facing more delays as the construction company and city work together on changes to the facility’s exterior. The terminal, located at 1500 Industrial Blvd., was supposed to be completed by May 31, according to a contract between developer Western LLC and the city. However, the project is now expected to be done by January, McKinney National Airport Director Ken Carley said. The city recently added nearly $500,000 to the project’s budget to make changes to the terminal’s look. The additional funding comes from the airport’s construction fund, which draws from the city’s general fund. “City Council wishes to maintain a certain look and features at the terminal that Western had removed to remain within their contracted budget,” Carley said in an email to Community Impact Newspaper. “As such, the parties agreed upon certain aesthetic features to be added to the terminal to maintain a look that the city desired.” During a City Council work session in June, Western LLC CEO Brad Henderson said several unexpected challenges occurred during the spring that caused setbacks. Henderson said at least 84 days of construction were lost due to rain, and unexpected drainage improvements were needed. The project was temporarily put on hold from July 30 to Aug. 20 while Western and the city discussed changes to the exterior of the building, according to Carley. “We feel there may be some other products that have recently come out that we think might be a better, sustainable, 100-year material,” McKinney Mayor George Fuller said. In addition to the delays, Western paused construction while discussions took place in August, but was approved to resume Aug. 21. The city is entitled to collect $150 a day from Western between June 1 and Jan. 1 or until construction is complete, according to the contract, but Fuller said the city will not collect damages at this time. “The city currently is maintaining its right to collect [damages],” he said. “At the end of the day, we will sit down, and we will go through methodically, and we will let [Western] make their case.” Once complete, the nearly $7.5 million fixed-base operator, or FBO, terminal will include a flight-planning room, a pilot lounge, a media room, two conference rooms, an outdoor lounge, on-site car rentals, packaged storage, curbside luggage service, Wi-Fi and a new parking lot. The city entered a public-private partnership with Western LLC to build a FBO terminal and a new $9 million transient hangar—a project totaling nearly $16.5 million. An FBO provides services at the airport such as fueling, hangar rentals, building-space rentals and more. According to the latest figures, $10.5 million of the nearly $16.5 million for the two projects comes from city funding, including $2.5 million from the McKinney National Airport, $4 million from the McKinney Economic Development Corp. and $4 million from the McKinney Community Development Corp. The other $6 million comes from Western LLC. The airport will pay Western LLC back for the $6 million contributed to the two projects with funds collected from FBO revenue, including renting out the hangar, Assistant City Manager Jose Madrigal said in a previous article. Once paid off, the hangar and terminal will belong to the airport. This is the airport’s first public-private partnership. The city plans to continue pursuing these types of partnerships to develop the airport and other projects throughout the city, McKinney City Manager Paul Grimes said at the June work session.