WEST YELLOWSTONE — The Yellowstone Airport is celebrating the opening of its newly constructed terminal, a 10-year, $46 million project that completely revamps the quaint air travel portal at the western edge of the world’s first national park.

On Wednesday, people gathered outside the new terminal for a ribbon cutting, as representatives from Montana’s Department of Transportation lauded the success and passion of Jeff Kadlec, the airport’s manager.

“Jeff joined the airport in 2013, and he has poured more time, energy, creativity and coffee into this place than just about anybody else,” Tim Conway, MDT’s aeronautics administrator, said, tearing up. “He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t just think outside the box. He loses the box entirely.”

For about a decade, Kadlec said, the airport has

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