Historic Airport Terminal? Yep, and in Newark

Historic Airport Terminal? Yep, and in Newark
Associated Press 

February 10, 2004, 8:21 PM EST


NEWARK, N.J. -- Dedicated by Amelia Earhart in 1935,
the sleek, art deco Newark Airport Administration
Building was an architectural statement announcing the
arrival of a modern era epitomized by air travel. 

"If you think about the whole concept of modernity in
design, there was the whole theme of speed, movement,
travel," said Bill Mikesell, an architect who is
president of the Newark Preservation & Landmarks
Committee. 

The 69-year-old structure is considered by many to be
the nation's and perhaps the world's first commercial
airline terminal. It featured one of the first air
traffic control towers, a ticket counter, waiting
area, restaurant, airport offices and even overnight
lodging for pilots. 

The terminal was retired in 1953 with the opening of
the larger North Terminal, which has since been
demolished. Although the older building was placed on
the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, it
was fell into rusty disrepair. 

Now, after being moved to a safer spot away from the
main runway at Newark Liberty International Airport,
the building has been restored to its original art
deco splendor, and is back in use as the airport's
administration building. 

On Wednesday, the historic structure known as Building
1, built by the depression-era Civil Works
Administration, or CWA, will be honored at the 2004
awards ceremony and annual meeting of the Landmarks
Committee, a private group that has recognized
extraordinary preservation efforts each year since
1975. 

"It's an outstanding, world-class example of the
preservation of historic buildings," said Elizabeth
Del Tufo, a committee member who also serves on the
Newark Landmarks Commission. "They're preserving an
old building to be an integral part of the future,
which is what it's all about. And the historical
significance of it is major: it was the first
passenger terminal to be built in the United States,
it was the home of the Arshile Gorky murals, and it's
a wonderful example of the work that the CWA did
during a time of great need in our country." 

Wednesday's meeting will take place in the lobby of
the historic building itself, its marble columns,
aluminum banisters and terrazzo floor _ with a soaring
bird and CWA logo _ reflecting the aerodynamic grace
of early airliners. 

Newark is one of the most storied airports in the
country, conceived under Newark Mayor Thomas L.
Raymond in 1927 and opened as a municipal airport a
year later, when aviation was largely the domain of
U.S. Army Air Corps and the Postal Service. 

In 1929, Newark became the country's eastern terminus
for the U.S. Postal Service, and then the main
passenger airport for the New York metropolitan area,
predating the airports now known as LaGuardia and John
F. Kennedy. 

"Most people don't know how important that airport is
historically," said Bob van der Linden, curator of Air
Transportation for the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington. "Before 1935, the airports were basically
fields. The airfields were grass, planes would taxi up
to the hangers, sometimes they would taxi into the
hangar in bad weather." 

Another milestone claimed by Newark and its operators
at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
include the first runway lights, in 1952. 

Moving the old 33,000-square-foot terminal nearly a
mile from its original location four years ago was a
historic event in its own right. The 7,000-ton
building was the heaviest object moved by rubber-tired
dolly, according to the Port Authority. 

The $60 million restoration project, completed in
2002, also included a 66,000-square-foot addition in a
contemporary style that seeks to complement, rather
than ape, the original building's architecture. The
new space house offices of the Port Authority Police
and Fire departments. 

Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, a
Manhattan-based firm, oversaw the restoration project.


The old building's lobby, with its wall-mounted
historic timeline and a display case full of authentic
memorabilia, is open to the public. On the second
floor, more privileged visitors can see a meticulously
restored pilot's quarters complete with 1930's-era
Newark Airport pennant purchased on e-bay and ascend a
spiral staircase into the original oval-domed glass
control tower. 

The airport's general manager, Susan Baer, has her
office on the second floor of Building 1, overlooking
more recent structures, including the airport's second
air traffic control tower, built in 1959, and slated
for demolition this spring. 

"This has been such a fun project," said Baer, who was
also involved in preserving the 1937 Marine Air
Terminal at LaGuardia, when she managed that airport.
"It's a chance to do something outside of what we
normally do, and it's a chance to preserve a very
important part of aviation history." 

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