A long-awaited gas station at Indianapolis International Airport is to open by the middle of next year.

The Indianapolis Airport Authority board on Friday approved a contract with Jericho, N.Y.-based Airport Plazas LLC to build a fueling station, auto service bay, car wash, convenience store and fast-food restaurant.

The specific restaurant has not been determined, said airport spokesman Carlo Bertolini.

“There would be prepared food options within the convenience store as well as a fast food restaurant on the site,” he said.

The plaza will be built on a 2½-acre site on the southern end of the airport entrance road, near Interstate 70. 
 
Such a station has been conspicuously absent since the new terminal opened in November 2008.  The former terminal, along High School Road, had a BP gas station and a Burger King, but the new terminal is in a more remote location.
 
Michael Wells, who was named airport board president earlier this year, last month told IBJ a station at the new terminal should have been built years ago.  Not only will it generate additional income for the airport, but it also will be a convenience for travelers returning rental cars who are unfamiliar with the city and where to fill up.

“Customers have told us they’d like fueling and other convenience options available closer to the airport,” Bob Duncan, the airport’s interim executive director, said in a statement.

The station also will be able to dispense natural gas for alternative-fueled vehicles. There’s already an electric vehicle charging station in the airport’s parking garage.

Airport Plazas operates or is about to open locations at airports in New York, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas and St. Louis.

The authority also is contemplating additional development near the planned site of the service plaza. Concepts batted around range from a fitness center to a health clinic to possibly even a small animal kennel.