Truely Sad News From AA at JFK (there goes more history!)

I just heard that the big beautiful stained glass wall at the old American terminal of JFK is going to be destroyed and turned into keychains. :cry:

By RUTH FORD

Published: July 23, 2006

When American Airlines Terminal 8 opened in 1960 at what was then New York International Airport at Idlewild, its most striking feature was the great stained-glass facade. The structure, made of red, sapphire and white glass tiles, wasn’t just public art; it also allowed light into the terminal, while keeping those inside from broiling in the south-facing building.

But next May, the 317-foot-by-23-foot translucent wall will come down. American Airlines is razing Terminal 8 as part of a $1.1 billion expansion that will create one terminal to serve all its customers at John F. Kennedy International Airport. “The cathedral,” as the abstract mosaic has sometimes been called, will vanish.

The airline had hoped to salvage the window, designed by the artist Robert Sowers, but was put off by the expense. “It would cost $1 million just to take it down,” said Steven Silver, who manages real estate at American. So when the terminal is demolished, the only act of preservation will be to use some of the glass to make key chains for airline employees.

While Terminal 8 is not a designated landmark, the idea of turning the glass mural into key chains has upset some. “It’s disrespectful and distasteful,” said Harriet Senie, a professor of art history at City College and the City University of New York Graduate Center. “It’s almost like a cannibalization.”

Recently, some American Airlines employees at Terminal 8 weighed in on the mural’s fate. “I assumed they would be saving the window,” said John Corrado, a pilot with the airline for 28 years. “It is part of the New York landscape.”

The plan to turn shards of glass into key chains seems “tacky,” he added.

“They should preserve it,” said Craig Kozan, a supervisor, who said the artwork reminded him of a calmer time in air travel.

But John Farrell, another pilot, said: “In this age, you can’t afford too much sentimentality. There are razor-thin margins in this business, and I don’t think anybody ever buys a ticket because American Airlines has a very nice stained window. ”

http://www.nytimes.com

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Sad that another bit of NYC airline history will be disappearing soon, but I guess that's progress in the era of low fares and commoditization. Some deep-pocketed premium Middle East or Asian airline should buy this work of art and put it up in their home terminal, to illustrate how that '60s spirit of glamour in commericial aviation is alive and well, overseas! Emirates, Etihad, Cathay, etc. are you listening?

The wife of the artist wrote the following letter to the NY Times published over the weekend. I think she's being a bit too much of an artistic purist, and while not the ideal solution, having the memory of the work live on as keychains is better than having no remnant of it at all!


Airline Can’t Justify the Destruction of Art

To the Editor:

Re “Demolishing a Celebrated Wall of Glass” (July 23): I regret that American Airlines does not have the good taste to simply demolish the stained glass wall designed by my husband, Robert Sowers, when Terminal 8 is razed next May at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Turning shards of glass into key chains for airline employees is a pathetic gesture to justify the destruction of a work of art and a sad reflection of a world that increasingly trivializes beauty.

Judith Jordan
Taos, N.M.

well it was a poignant note.


AA wont look at it though and budge. So all you can hope for is another piece of art.

Aprey is a bit of a tight wad but hey AA is not doing bad I guess, it is pretty unfortuneate though that it has to go in that form. Speaking of AA a 738 diverted into SRQ just as I was leaving today and went to one fo the FBO's on the airport.