Standing right outside the new terminal you might expect it to be bustling, but it's actually pretty peaceful.
MARES: "This is deer grass, right in here. Those are poplar trees and agave plants.
On opening day as passengers streamed into the gleaming new terminal B, I took a walk outside with John Mares, the architect who has overseen this billion dollar construction effort. As part of the project, nine acres of asphalt were reclaimed, making way for a new public green way, which you look out on from all three levels of the new terminal.
MARES: "Crape myrtle plants over there….
RUBIN: "So most of the stuff is native? Though I know
crape myrtle isn't."
MARES: "It's all low water usage all the irrigation here
comes from wells that are on site that tap into a local aquifer
that is right under the airport here so we don't use city water to
do it."
Walking through the narrow green space with Mares is more like
exploring nature then being in a park. There are no real paths, you
just make your way through the greenery.
MARES: "And we have these serpentine walls, what those are symbolic of is as you make your way through the foothills to the valley, the contours are very similar to this."
MARES: "And we have these serpentine walls, what those are symbolic of is as you make your way through the foothills to the valley, the contours are very similar to this."
"All of these patterns, all of these plannings, all of
these landscape elements are evocative of where we are in the
Central Valley. Your supposed to kind of get a mini rendition of
the Sacramento area. You know at least get the feel. If you see the
river in this, then that is great. You can see the dessert areas
with the agave plants there."
Mares says he thinks the outdoor space is going to be popular with travelers, especially when next year a fountain goes in which is being designed by Jaume Plesna the same Spanish artist responsible for the centerpiece fountain in Millennium Park in Chicago.