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Security System Built Into
Myrtle Beach Airport Expansion
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
A new security system was designed
as an integral part of a $23 million expansion project
at The Myrtle Beach Jetport. The project provided
73,000 sq. ft. of additional terminal space for
four commercial airline gates and a regional carrier
concourse, as well as a four-story glass atrium
and commons. It also increased the areas available
for food, banking and retail services, airport administration
and baggage claim.
The airport serves the burgeoning tourist industry
in the Myrtle Beach area, an increasingly popular
vacation area that boasts some 100 major golf courses.
Owned and operated by the Horry County Department
of Airports, it functions under the authority of
an advisory board. Deputy Director Todd Crawford
reports that an estimated 600,000 passengers arrive
at or depart from the new facility annually. "With
the meeters and greeters who also visit us,"
he notes, "we expect to have close to a million
people coming through the terminal this year."
Starting with the original 25,000 sq. ft. facility,
which opened in 1976, the airport was planned for
future growth. According to project architect Larry
C.Timbes, A.I.A., a partner in Timbes Wilund Group
Architects, Inc., Myrtle Beach, "The mission
was to design a facility that would be easily expandable
and accommodate expansion with the least amount
of disruption." Since it opened, the terminal
has been expanded twice, growing first to 55,000
sq. ft. and now to 128,000 sq. ft., with the most
recent addition being completed in April, 1993.
Several purposes were paramount from the beginning.
Timbes explains, "Because tourism is a big
industry here, we wanted it to be a welcome center
as well as transportation center. We wanted people
to come into an environment that accentuated relaxation,
which we did through the use of natural light, trees,
a lot of wood and light, airy colors. The comfort
level this creates is not only people's first impression
of this area, but also their last as they come back
out to the airport as they leave."
The terminal has been designed to allow linear expansion,
with the ticket counters on one end, the baggage
claim on the other, and a central "spine."
Timbes explains, "It is something like a layer
cake, and it can grown in either direction from
the central core." While all passengers are
routed through the central atrium area, traffic
patterns are arranged to eliminate cross-circulation
of people arriving and departing. Airport operations
areas for the carriers are underneath the terminal.
With this most recent expansion, the airport has
gone from a single level to two levels. Originally,
passengers simply deplaned onto the tarmac and walked
into the terminal. Now, with the addition of space
for four aircraft loading bridges, the growing complexity
of the terminal created a need for a security system
that would meet FAA regulations and safeguard both
passengers and employees.
Originally, security needs were more basic. "All
we had were law enforcement people doing perimeter
checks," says Sgt. Richard Medin, Airport Police.
Although the airport may be small when compared
to Atlanta and other major hubs, it must meet most
of the same FAA security regulations, Timbes points
out. He adds, "We have a fairly sophisticated
small terminal, with a lot of quality in it, and
we wanted a security system that would be compatible
with this whole theme."
Crawford, in explaining the applicable FAR Part
107 regulations, says, "You have to be able
to almost instantly cancel someone's access to the
secured area. If someone is fired by an airline,
you need to be able to go into the computer and
cancel him out of the card access system."
 Stairwell
doors at the new Myrtle Beach Jetport terminal are
equipped with Von Duprin's
Chexit controlled exit devices, which can be
opened after a 15-second delay, during which an
alarm will sound. An adjacent card reader permits
employees with the proper security clearance to
deactivate the alarm temporarily to use the door.
The key to achieving the necessary
control in a manageable system was the choice of
a Von Duprin 7000 System, an access control system
that uses a combination of card readers and PIN
numbers to provide a high degree of flexibility
in specifying various levels and zones of access.
This was tied into a Von Duprin 2400 Security Control
System, which integrates all monitoring and control
systems in one easy-to-operate station. A central
console incorporates a graphic map of the terminal,
with a zone module map button for each door and
a function keypad that controls specific operations.
It displays information from door position monitors
and CCTV cameras throughout the facility. The control
console is located in the security office, which
forms a buffer between the secured and non-secured
areas of the terminal and contains all other security
functions as well, including emergency communications
and fire control.
Doors that are generally restricted to the public,
such as the stair towers, are equipped with Von
Duprin's Chexit controlled exit devices to accommodate
life safety requirements without sacrificing security.
These devices can be opened after a 15-second delay,
providing emergency egress. However, an alarm will
sound and a display on the console in the security
office will light up to allow corrective action
if unauthorized use occurs. An adjacent card reader
permits employees with the proper security clearance
to deactivate the alarm temporarily so they can
use the door. If a fire occurs, the smoke alarm
will disarm the system so the door is unlocked to
allow immediate egress. The control console in the
security office provides overall control of all
doors. Crawford explains, "In a fire, the security
office can cancel all those alarms and put every
door in an open position. They also have the capability
of putting every door in an emergency closed position
when necessary."
The access cards issued to each authorized person
serve as their identification badges and also contain
a magnetic strip with the data needed for the system
to control that individual's access at any one of
several zones or security levels. For example, Crawford
explains, "A card used by a USAir employee
will not work at American Airlines, and vice versa.
We can use the magnetic card reader with or without
individual PIN numbers, depending on the level of
security needed at a particular location."
Even temporary employees on more than a short visit
will be entered in the computer and issued temporary
badges under the new system, says Richard Oates,
Supervisor of the Security Operations Center. "It
will authorize the person to access only certain
doors, which will be determined by meeting with
the person's supervisor. The person also will be
given a code to use, and the system will reject
the card and set off an alarm if it is used at another
door." The same feature will prevent anyone
from using a lost or stolen card, and some cards
might require different procedures from others.
The card system is more effective and easier to
administer, and it provides greater accountability
than a key control system. Oates estimates that
the initial issue will be close to 200 cards, with
growth in the number of airline, service and security
employees pushing the eventual total to as many
as 300 to 400 cards. For short-term visitors, an
escort will be provided.
The system became an integral part of the expansion
plan. Timbes notes, "From day one, a great
deal of time was spent planning the security system
and reviewing the FAA mandates to determine what
was required." He adds that key people from
his office worked closely throughout the project
with Duane Bruch, of D.H. Bruch Marketing, Inc.,
Charlotte, North Carolina, the Von Duprin representative.
One particular challenge was monitoring the large
revolving doors at the entrance to the terminal.
Because they do not separate a secured area, it
was not important to control them during the day.
However, the terminal is closed for several hours
each night when no flights are scheduled, and some
effort went into monitoring the locked status of
the doors to provide complete information on the
panel. Locking the doors automatically was not a
high priority, because of the difficulty of assuring
that the revolving door leaves would stop in the
exact position needed to engage a lock. Instead,
a security officer manually locks the doors when
the terminal closes, but the locked status can be
verified on the control panel.
The Myrtle Beach Jetport was moved from a 4,000
sq. ft. facility in North Myrtle Beach to its present
location in 1975, where it operated under a Joint
Use Agreement with Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.
In this capacity, it served only scheduled air carriers,
charter flights and air cargo carriers. With the
closing of the base in early 1993, the master plan
was revised to incorporate future facilities for
a fixedbase operator (FBO) that will serve general
aviation flights.
Although the terminal was designed and under construction
prior to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA), several changes were made to meet its
mandates. These include enlarging restroom stall
dimensions, adding braille to some of the graphics
plaques, and adding special telephones as well as
a free-standing LED readout to display all terminal
announcements for the hearing impaired.
Participants in the project, in addition to Timbes
Wilund Group Architects, Inc., include Day &
Zimmerman, Inc., of Philadelphia, construction manager;
Pizzagalli Construction Company, of Raleigh, North
Carolina, general contractor; and APAC, of Myrtle
Beach, site work. Site engineers included Engineering
Consultants of Florence, South Carolina, and The
LPA Group, of Myrtle Beach.
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