TAMPA, FL (WFLA) – Part of a $1 billion expansion at Tampa International Airport is finished, and local and airport leaders unveiled it Monday morning amid fanfare and celebration.
A ribbon cutting ceremony marked the opening of the airport’s new Concession Distribution and Receiving Center.
The facility will screen all food and goods headed to the airport to ensure weapons of suspicious objects are not smuggled into the main building.
It will be operated by Bradford Airport Logistics.
“This is going to be the most high-tech center around this country,” said airport CEO Joe Lopano.
The facility will employ around 20 workers.
In the coming months, 65 new restaurants and shops are expected to open within the airport, an airport spokesman tells News Channel Eight. Among them, a Hard Rock Cafe, which will become the only airport Hard Rock Cafe in North America.
Monday’s unveiling comes as the airport prepares to open Bay Coffee and Tea and Auntie Anne’s next week.
The overall expansion started in late 2014. It is scheduled to include a mini-version of a transit system to move passengers around the airport with ease.
