Signage installed last week officially designates Charleston International Airport’s main passenger facility as the Ernest F. Hollings Terminal.
Hollings, South Carolina’s Democratic U.S. senator for nearly 40 years, died April 6, 2019. The airport board quickly voted to name the airport’s recently expanded passenger terminal in honor of the late senator. A planned unveiling ceremony earlier this year was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but with the blessing of Hollings’ family the airport installed the new signage on Aug. 28.
Helen Hill, chair of the Charleston International Airport Charleston County Aviation Authority, said it was “So wonderful to hear, ‘Welcome to the Ernest F. Hollings Terminal at the Charleston International Airport’!”
New recorded greetings with Hollings’ name began playing inside the terminal in July, said airport spokesman Spencer Pryor. A formal event will be held at a later time with the senator’s family in attendance.
Before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1966, Hollings served as state representative, lieutenant governor and governor after deploying overseas in the U.S. Army during World War II.
“The airport benefited greatly from his vision,” said Elliott Summey on the announcement last year. “Opportunities like the new air service(s) we’ve garnered in the last decade were made possible by the groundwork of his long-term commitment to aviation.” Summey took over as Aviation Authority CEO this summer.
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