The Port Authority's response to "Save the TWA Flight Center" Monday, July 28, 2003 By DANIEL SFORZA STAFF WRITER The building is flight, embodied in concrete and steel. A sweeping shape meant to herald the coming of the jet age nearly a half-century ago. But the landmark form of the TWA Terminal far exceeded its function, almost from the day it opened in 1962. Cramped interiors and poor transportation links often turned admiration into frustration for passengers at Kennedy International Airport. Now, architects are hoping to build a new space that connects to Eero Saarinen's masterwork, but abandons its use as a passenger terminal. "It never functioned well," said Bill DeCota, aviation director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Kennedy International. "I think it's a beautiful piece of architecture. But if you think like a passenger, as opposed to an architect, you are not going to like the Saarinen terminal." No airline has used the terminal since January 2002, and it has remained closed. The Port Authority has sought to redesign the terminal for years, but supporters of Saarinen's work have tried to stall the project, saying it will ruin the architect's artistic intentions. Saarinen, who died in 1961, designed the building in the late 1950s; it was completed in 1962. Officially named Terminal 5, but commonly known as the "TWA Terminal" for the now-defunct airline that used it, Saarinen's work was named a New York City Landmark in 1994. When it opened, flying by jet was exciting, new, and mainly a conveyance for the rich. But as flying became more common, the terminal's curvilinear interior succumbed to a crush of passengers that rendered the innovative design impractical for modern travel. Some of the terminal's problems, according to Port Authority Chief Architect Robert Davidson: One road provides access to the terminal for both arriving and departing passengers. Most modern terminals have separate roads for arrivals and departures. Lines of passengers at ticket counters often stretched in front of the entrance, making it difficult for passengers to leave or arrive. Outdoors, passengers were not protected from the weather as they checked bags or hailed cabs. The building is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is no place to install modern security equipment for screening passengers or baggage, as required by the federal government following the Sept. 11 attacks. So many additions have been made to accommodate modern travel that the original design has been obscured. Saarinen himself did not seem pleased with the design, and was once quoted as saying, "It would make a beautiful ruin, like the baths of Caracalla," a Roman relic. After the TWA Terminal, Saarinen designed Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va., creating innovations still in use today, such as "moving lounges" that bring passengers from the terminal directly to the plane to minimize walking. Saarinen, who also designed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, said he considered Dulles "the best thing I have ever done," according to historical accounts. Davidson's hope is to restore the terminal to its original design, and reuse it as possibly an aviation museum or conference center - anything but an airline terminal. "We would like to liberate this building from the function that has been strangling it for decades - its use as a terminal," he said. But that doesn't fly with opponents of the Port Authority's plans, especially the Municipal Art Society of New York, which is opposing the project and has submitted plans of its own to preserve the Saarinen building as a working terminal. "This building is to aviation architecture as Michelangelo's 'David' is to sculpture," said Art Society Executive Director Frank E. Sanchis III. "We are convinced you can preserve the terminal in its entirety and make it usable for airline use." Although the Port Authority's latest proposal keeps the terminal building intact, the satellite gate buildings would be razed along with neighboring Terminal 6. Port Authority officials hope to start construction next year on a crescent-shaped structure that would be wrapped around the Saarinen terminal, using the existing tubular walkways to connect the new and old buildings. As a result, the Saarinen building would not overlook the tarmac. "The way to preserve it is not to dismember it," Sanchis said at a recent hearing on the proposal. "We think the design abandons the terminal by cutting it off from the airfield." The new terminal would have up to 51 gates, an increase of almost 2-to-1 over what now exists. And the interior space would more than double to 1.54 million square feet. It also would connect to the Airtrain light rail system. Passengers would arrive on one level and depart on another. Parking would be available in a tiered parking garage near the light rail station. The terminal would have a full complement of shops, services, and eateries, although the interior design has not been finalized. The cost: About $1 billion, including $30 million to work the Saarinen building into the new design. "We have spent a lot of time and a lot of effort to figure out a way to integrate the new terminal and old terminal," said DeCota, the aviation director. "The fact is that with the new design, you can still use the Saarinen terminal and have the same experience." The Port Authority is accepting comments on the plan until Thursday. Following that, the Federal Aviation Administration will review the proposal, as will the New York State Historic Preservation office and the U.S. Advisory Council for Historic Preservation. However, approval rests with the FAA. Tenants for the new terminal would likely include JetBlue Airways, a discount carrier rapidly expanding at Kennedy. Not surprisingly, JetBlue favors the redesign. "We do see the historical importance of the Saarinen building," said JetBlue Vice President Richard Smyth. "We think the Port Authority plan established that balance between what an airline needs today with the history of the Saarinen building." The best slide auction on the net: http://www.auctiontransportation.com/sites/psa188/ Attend the Newark Airport Airline Collectible Show & Sale: http://www.freeyellow.com/members/psa188/page1.html