October 17, 2011
TWA Terminal at JFK could reopen before 2012
For the first time in a decade, the public was allowed inside the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Terminal at Kennedy Airport on Sunday as openhousenewyork secured access to show off the iconic structure.
“This is the quintessential airport building representing flight,” said Charles Kramer, an architect from Beyer Blinder Belle who worked on the 20,000-square-foot main-lobby restoration project.
About 800 to 1,000 people trekked out to JFK, most toting cameras, for the sneak preview on Sunday, according to OHNY estimates. But for everyone who missed Sunday’s debut, they may not have to wait long for another opportunity.
“We’re talking about opening this up to the public on a limited basis,” Jim Stevens, the Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Manager of JFK’s Physical Plant and Redevelopment, said Sunday. “I would like to be able to say before the new year,” but budgeting issues may delay that, he said.
Ideally they’d do it with consistent hours, he said, such as every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They’re also considering which hours would be best in order to offer a diversity of light, which changes dramatically as the sun creates different beams as it shines through Saarinen’s design.
The Port Authorty hopes to find private companies to run operations in the old TWA building. Earlier this year, more than 20 hotel representatives were allowed to tour the site with an eye toward developing bids to run a hotel there (without displacing any of the restoration work that’s just been completed.)
The hotel project is still a possibility though it “isn’t going to happen for a while,” Stevens said.
Although no set use has been determined for the building, Kramer said the arrivals and departures boards lists all the flights for the whole airport, not just adjacent JetBlue. He envisions the building as a destination unto itself. “People could come to this terminal then have a drink, and then take Airtrain” to another terminal and pick up their arriving friends, he said.
“We’re looking at this as an investment,” Stevens said of the Port Authority’s $20 million restoration of the main spaces of the TWA Terminal. The hope is that people visit the renovations and have a “Holy crap, this is cool’” moment and are moved to develop future uses of the terminal, Stevens said
Trans World Airline Flight Center at John F. Kennedy Airport opened in May 1962, but at that point it was already “functionally obsolete,” Kramer said. he noted that in the 1930s the plane of choice, a DC3, carried 21 passengers. By 1950, about 250 passengers were on a plane. And then by the time 747s were standard, the older buildings could barely keep up. “One 747 is as big as this building,” Kramer said. The demand for more ticketing space was so great that in the 1980s, TWA ripped out the sunken seating area and stuck baggage belts right through the windows. By using old photographs and shop drawings, the sunken seating area has returned with its bold-red fabrics.
The restoration project also involved removing the asbestos from the ceiling, repairing and replacing the tiny floor tiles and removing the film on the windows that had turned purple since it was installed in the 1980s to provide solar protection.
Originally, the Port Authority had hoped to open the building long before now.
The hope for wider public access came to an abrupt halt when the first post-TWA event held there, the 2004 opening reception for the Terminal 5 art show, go way out of control. “A lot of things were vandalized,” Stevens said. “People got lost in the basement of the building and a lot of things happened here that we don’t ever want to condone.”
But this past Sunday, is was open to everyone again - but without the open bar.
JetBlue employees — some with carry-on luggage in tow — could also be found gawking at the long-shuttered terminal. “It’s amazing,” said ground operations supervisor Randy Parmanand as he checked out the retro-Constellation Club. He’s worked at the adjacent Jet Blue terminal for four years but had never set foot inside the TWA building he said.
Lenny Cagno, who worked at TWA for 29 years as a crew bus driver, said he hadn’t set foot in the building since Oct. 6, 2001 when it closed operations.
“My favorite spot was right over there - to watch all the girls,” the now-retired Cagno said, pointing to a spot at the top of the stairs.
Anthony Scimeca was decked out in his TWA crew chief uniform. A 45-year employee, he managed to get a 50-year TWA service pin after the airline merged with American in 2001.
About 20 of the TWA alumni showed up to the openhousenewyork event, which happened with only one-week advance notice. Though it was hardly a long-lost reunion as they said they get together about four times a year, sometimes with 200 or 300 people showing up.
“There’s a lot of good memories here,” said Cesar Fernandez, who worked in TWA’s ramp fleet service for 26 years and now is with American Airlines.
Unrenovated sections:
Picture credits: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Earlier: TWA Terminal added to openhousenewyork
October 17, 2011 7:26 AM in Architecture, Arrivology, Cheap Stuff, Drinkology, History, Out of Manhattan
Comments (1)
®Copyright 2004 - 2011, All Rights Reserved
|
