DENVER -- At a meeting with City Council members on Friday, Denver International Airport officials said they are in a good financial position to move forward with a plan to expand.

The plan would convert open space on the south side of the airport terminal into a hotel and a light rail station.

“The thing that’s pushing us is FAST track. We’re working with Regional Transportation District (RTD). They’re coming. We have to have this station to receive the train,” said Aviation Manager Kim Day.

The train station would be the entry way to the terminal. As a result, the terminal itself is likely to change. Day said the security lines would be moved out of the “great hall” where they are now. The goal is to boost business for retailers and make travel smoother for passengers.

“Your main objective when you get to the airport is to get through security. Anything you can put on the other side of security is much more likely to be used in my opinion,” DIA traveler Mitch Melfi said. He likes the idea to move the security area as long as it doesn’t make the process more complicated.

However, the expansion comes with a $1 billion dollar price tag. 7News asked why now?

“If we can put people to work, and these are not taxpayer dollars, then this is a good time to move forward,” said Denver City Council Member Charlie Brown.

The airport is an enterprise fund and plans to sell bonds to help pay for the project. Day says the burden will not fall on Denver residents or travelers.

“Our economic situation is wonderfully stable. Why wouldn’t we move ahead to help our economy and help everyone at the same time? The airport’s paying for it. Absolutely, we will use all our money,” said Day.

The project is still in its early stages. Day said plans have not been drawn just yet. Right now, the goal is to break ground on the hotel in the spring. The train station is scheduled to be complete in 2015. The changes to the terminal security checkpoints would happen after that.

“It’s a long way in the future. We don’t know what it looks like. We’ll be listening to people’s concerns. When we actually get down to designing this space, we’ll do something that’s responsive to the public comment,” said Day.