The new Southwest Oregon Regional Airport terminal will be top notch, right down to the trash receptacles, airport managers say.

This week the Coos County Airport District commissioners approved the purchase of 10 circular trash cans, with price tags of more than $1,000 each.

“They’re stainless steel,” Project Manager Clifford Newton of Heery International Inc. told commissioners.

Commissioner Helen Brunell Mineau wanted to know if it might be possible to purchase just six of the containers at first, plus four recycling barrels. The litter cans hold 36 gallons of debris, are 23 inches in diameter, 42 1/2 inches high, with a side opening and fire-rated polyethylene black textured dome lids. The exact amount the satin-finished containers, sold by Universal Receptacles, will cost the district is $10,843. The cans will be placed indoors at the 32,000-square-foot building, made of concrete, steel and Douglas fir lumber.

According to the agenda, a member of the Zimmer Gunsul Fransca design team, Kristina Thomsen, suggested buying the cans, saying they would complement the chairs purchased for passenger seating. The architectural firm, Skanska U.S.A., was authorized to complete the purchase with money set aside in a furniture fund.

Recycling bins will be needed at the new terminal as well.

Commissioner John Briggs said he will bring a Ford Foundation recycling can in for commissioners to see next week. These barrels are $150 a piece.

“I’m a little concerned about a $20 million terminal and wooden boxes,” Chairman Mike Lehman said.

“No, they’re not wooden boxes,” Briggs laughed.

The new garbage containers will follow the building design theme, too. The tiles on the outside of the building also are stainless steel. They are treated in a chemical bath to give them an iridescent shimmer — almost like fish scales. Construction workers are applying them now, and the back side of the building is 80 percent covered, Newton said.

All board members, including commissioners Clair Jones and Joe Benetti, voted in favor of purchasing the trash cans.

“That’s the going rate for that kind of trash receptacle,” Airport Executive Director Gary LeTellier said on the phone Wednesday. “There’s some nice things in this building.”

Jones agreed.

“I think it’s appropriate with the new terminal,” he said by phone on Thursday. “Stainless steel is expensive. You have to have quality stuff or the public will tear it up.”

Terminal on track

The terminal is nearing completion.

Commissioners voted to award $17,600 for a construction cleanup contract to the lowest bidder, B&B Janitorial in Coos Bay. Cleanup should begin around the beginning of June, Newton said.

Further updates on the new terminal are on the agenda for the next Coos County Airport District board meeting, scheduled at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the airport.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has been invited dedicate the new terminal at a party on July 1. The terminal should be in operation within a day or two following the party, LeTellier said. The exact date has not been set. A grand opening is planned for July 7, the same day that United Express scheduled its first flight to San Francisco.

— Staff Writer Jo Rafferty covers Southwest Oregon Regional Airport and business news for The World. She can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 236; or by e-mailing to jrafferty@theworldlink.com.