PRESLEY RUDGE, 9, ENGAGES IN A CALMING ACTIVITY IN THE SENSORY ROOM NAMED AFTER HIM AT PIT. | PHOTO BY JOSHUA VAZQUEZ

Amid the hustle and bustle of travelers coming and going through Pittsburgh International Airport’s Concourse A is Presley’s Place, a room that provides a quiet, peaceful spot for people with sensory sensibilities and their families.

The airport this week marked the five-year anniversary of Presley’s Place, which was inspired and named after the son of Jason Rudge, a heavy equipment operator at PIT. His son, Presley, has autism.

About seven years ago Rudge dropped a letter into a CEO suggestion box at the airport, urging officials to add a place where children and adults like his son would feel comfortable waiting for flights. PIT CEO Christina Cassotis ran with the idea and the space opened near Gate A9 in 2019. 

Not only has this 1,500-square-foot space become a refuge for people with sensory sensibilities like Presley, but it has become a model for other airports, such as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which has created its own sensory room.

PIT has also gotten inquiries from airports in Australia, Singapore, Canada, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Grand Rapids, Michigan. In addition, Missouri Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati Zoo and San Antonio Public Library have reached out for information, according to Blue Sky News, the news service for the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

PIT’s soundproof room includes comfortable seating, adjustable lighting, individual rooms, calming activities and a replica of the inside of an airplane cabin — donated in part by American Airlines — to acquaint visitors about what to expect inside an airplane. 

A REPLICA OF AN INSIDE OF AN AIRPLANE IS AT PRESLEY’S PLACE, PIT’S SENSORY ROOM TO HELP ACQUAINT VISITORS WITH THE SEATING IN A PLANE. | PHOTO BY BETH HOLLERICH

Paul Hoback, chief development officer and executive vice president of the airport authority, has said Presley’s Place will be part of the new $1.57 billion terminal, which is expected to open in the third quarter of 2025.

Presley, who is now 9, and his family returned to the room recently to help celebrate the milestone. Also on hand was Angie Kotula, whose 22-year-old son, Nick Logero, also has an autism diagnosis. She never took him on flights when he was younger because she wasn’t sure how he’d react in the loud, busy airport. 

A VIEW OF PRESLEY’S PLACE AT PIT. | PHOTO BY BETH HOLLERICH

About his first visit recently to Presley’s Place, Logero told Blue Sky News: “It’s calm and quiet. It lets you calm down over the loud noises of the airport.”

The design of Presley’s Place won a 2019 People’s Choice Award from the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which will be holding its annual Architecture Week starting Oct. 7.