100°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

JFK’s airports classic TWA terminal says goodbye

Despite the fact that it's one of the busiest international air passenger gateways in the United States, plenty of travelers do what they can to avoid New York's JFK International Airport.

The hub is, after all, often included on lists of America's worst airports.

It could be worth a visit this weekend, however, when the airport opens the doors to its classic TWA Flight Center terminal one last time before development.

The famed gull-winged building, which is set to become a hotel, will welcome visitors on October 18 as part of the Open House New York initiative that unlocks the doors of the city's landmarks.

The terminal was designed by the celebrated Finnish architect Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962.

It's still celebrated as an icon of the Jet Age.

On an artistic level, it's seen as a masterpiece of 20th-century modernism, with sleek and flowing lines said to evoke the notion of flight.

On a practical level, it eventually turned out to be a dud.

The terminal struggled to handle larger airplanes and the higher volume of passengers brought on by rapid advances in air travel.

It's been out of use since 2001, when the airline it was originally built for, TWA, went out of business.

Redevelopment

Over the last six years the building has been painstakingly restored and included in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Now, MCR Development (with offices in New York and Texas) plans to invest $265 million to turn it into JFK's first on-site luxury hotel.

The hotel owner-operator firm says its plan, due to be completed in 2018, includes a museum focusing on New York City as the birthplace of the Jet Age of intercontinental travel.

It'll also focus on the history of TWA, once among the premier carriers in the world, and the modernism design movement.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
US now seeks to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda

Immigration officials said they intend to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, after he declined an offer to be sent to Costa Rica in exchange for remaining in jail and pleading guilty to human smuggling charges, his defense attorneys told a court Saturday.

Man mistakenly deported to El Salvador freed from Tennessee jail

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from jail in Tennessee on Friday so he can rejoin his family in Maryland while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges.

Frankenstein bunnies? Rabbits with ‘horns’ spotted in Colorado

A group of rabbits in Colorado with grotesque, hornlike growths may seem straight out of a low-budget horror film, but scientists say there’s no reason to be spooked — the furry creatures merely have a relatively common virus.

MORE STORIES