Worldport (Pan Am)

Image:Pan Am Worldport overview.jpg

The terminal was originally known as the "Pan Am Terminal" or Pan Am "Unit Terminal Building" (UTB). It was designed by Ives, Turano & Gardner Associated Architects and Walther Prokosch of Tippets-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton as a showcase for international jet travel and was particularly famous for its {{convert|4|acre|ha|adj=on}} "flying saucer" roof projecting out from the outer columns of the terminal supported on 32 sets of pre-stressed horizontal steel posts and cables. The terminal was designed to allow for aircraft to be parked under the overhanging roof; marketing brochures promoted it as the Jet Age terminal that brought the plane to the passenger. The overhang sheltered passengers as they boarded the aircraft by stairs or by uncovered bridges. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Guide to New York City called the terminal a "genuine architectural attempt to answer the problem of all-weather connections to the planes" but derided the overall concept as "compromised by an overabundance of distracting detail".{{cite book |title=AIA Guide to New York City |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0gj61QSgk8C&pg=PA811 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=November 30, 2012 |author=White, Norval |author2=Willensky, Elliot |author3=Leadon, Fran |page=811 |year=2010|isbn = 9780199772919}}

The building's facade originally featured zodiac figures made by sculptor Milton Hebald,{{cite news |author=Knox, Sanka |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0812F73E5916738DDDAA0894DE405B808AF1D3 |title=Idlewild Skyline Gets An Addition; New Pan Am Terminal Looks Like Parasol to Motorists Approaching Airport |work=The New York Times |date=June 3, 1960 |access-date=October 28, 2008}} although these were later removed by the Port Authority.{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524210819/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-68708702.html |archive-date=May 24, 2013 |title=Outrage – Pan American airport terminal in disrepair. |journal=Architectural Review |date=December 1, 2000 |access-date=October 28, 2008 |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-68708702.html}} The terminal featured the Panorama Room, a dining room with a view of the entire concourse, and the Clipper Hall museum of Pan Am history.

In 1971, the terminal was expanded to accommodate the large Boeing 747 and renamed the "Pan Am Worldport". Worldport was the world's largest airline terminal and held the title for several years.{{cn|date=February 2022}}

{{Multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical|width=250

|image1=New York-JFK Airport, Aerial Overview JP6888707.jpg|caption1=Worldport under construction

|image2=Pan Am Boeing 707-100 at JFK 1961 Proctor.jpg|caption2=A Pan Am Boeing 707-100 at Worldport (1961)

|image3=JFK Terminal 3 2012.jpg|caption3=In 2012

}}

Operation of Worldport changed hands when Pan Am declared bankruptcy in 1991. Delta Air Lines acquired many of Pan Am's assets, including the lease on Worldport, which became known simply as "Terminal 3", and operated most of its long-haul flights out of JFK to Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America from the building.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}

In March 2006, Delta COO Jim Whitehurst announced that Delta would spend US$10 million before the end of that year to renovate Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, including its public spaces, BusinessElite lounge, and Crown Room Clubs.{{cite news |title=Delta Air Lines To Surpass American In JFK Departures |first=Jay |last=Boehmer |url=http://www.businesstravelnews.com/More-News/Articles/Delta-Air-Lines-To-Surpass-American-In-JFK-Departures/ |work=Business Travel News |date=March 20, 2006 |access-date=July 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708105307/http://www.businesstravelnews.com/More-News/Articles/Delta-Air-Lines-To-Surpass-American-In-JFK-Departures/ |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |url-status=dead }} In the July 2007 issue of Delta's Sky Magazine, Delta Senior Vice President Joanne Smith remarked on the "distinctive" saucer roof in an article on new flooring, lighting, and signage at this "historic airport".

On August 4, 2010, The New York Times reported that Delta was planning to move its international flights to Terminal 4 following the construction of nine additional gates in Concourse B of that terminal. Delta's domestic flights would continue to be operated out of Terminal 2. Terminal 3 would subsequently be demolished to create additional aircraft parking between Terminals 2 and 4. Construction of the Terminal 4 expansion began in November 2010 and was completed in May 2013.

File:Terminal 3 is now closed.JPG

On May 23, 2013, the final departure from Terminal 3, Delta Air Lines Flight 268, a Boeing 747-400 to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport, departed from Gate 6 at 11:25pm local time. The terminal ceased operations on the next day, 53 years to the day from when it opened.{{cite web |last=Frischling |first=Steven |title=Photographer |date=May 17, 2013 |url=http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyingwithfish/2013/05/17/a-historic-chapter-in-aviation-closes-it-wont-be-documented/ |access-date=June 1, 2013}}

Preservation groups campaigned to save the building and have it nominated by the New York State Historic Preservation Office as a historic place.{{cite web |title=Save The Pan Am Worldport |website=Facebook |url=http://www.facebook.com/PanAmWorldport |access-date=November 8, 2012}} On June 19, 2013, Worldport was placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of eleven Most Endangered Places in America for 2013, but by June 25, 2013, demolition of the elevated roadway leading to the terminal had already begun, although preservationists continued to protest against the demolition of the building itself.{{cite news |title=Preservationists fight to save Pan Am 'Worldport' terminal at JFK airport |first=Clare |last=Trapasso |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/preservationists-cry-save-worldport-article-1.1382281 |newspaper=New York Daily News |date=June 25, 2013 |access-date=June 28, 2013}} The New York State Historic Preservation Office, which had revoked the building's eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places in 2001,{{cite web |author=Save the Worldport |title=2012 SHPO FOIL |url=https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.491185194238416.114871.131386373551635&type=3 |work=Remembering the Pan Am Worldport |access-date=May 18, 2014}} upheld this decision in May 2013, claiming the building had lost significant historic integrity due to excessive modifications.

The preservation campaign was ultimately unsuccessful and demolition of the flying saucer roof was completed on November 22, 2013. Demolition work on the remainder of the terminal completed in summer 2014. The National Trust for Historic Preservation cited Worldport as one of ten historic sites lost in 2013.{{cite news |author=Staff |title=A look at 10 historic sites saved, 10 lost in 2013 |newspaper=Associated Press as reported by the Post Crescent |date=January 5, 2014 |page=F3}}

There was subsequently a media outcry, particularly in other countries, over the demolition of Worldport. Several online petitions requesting the restoration of the original 'flying saucer' gained popularity.Multiple sources:

• {{cite press release |title=Port Authority Approves Construction |url=http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1309 |publisher=Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |date=August 5, 2010 |access-date=August 5, 2010 |archive-date=August 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828025819/http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1309 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite press release |title=New Plans For Expanding Terminal 4 at JFK Airport |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fhome2.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2010b%2Fpr348-10.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 |publisher=NYC Office of the Mayor |date=August 5, 2010 |access-date=August 5, 2010 |archive-date=December 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222152704/http://home2.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fhome2.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2010b%2Fpr348-10.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite press release |title=Plans for Enhancement and Expansion of Terminal 4 at JFK Airport |url=http://news.delta.com/index.php?s=43&item=1095 |publisher=Delta Air Lines |date=August 5, 2010 |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-date=August 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816070615/http://news.delta.com/index.php?s=43&item=1095 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite web |title=Details of JFK Improvements – Civil Aviation Forum |url=http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4895622/ |publisher=Airliners.net |date=August 5, 2010 |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-date=August 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815091914/http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4895622 |url-status=dead }}

File:Live and Let Die Worldport.png

Worldport has appeared in several films and publications.

• A Pan Am Boeing 747 and the Worldport briefly appear in the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die.''{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
• A partially digital reconstruction of the Pan Am Terminal is featured in most episodes of the ABC television series Pan Am, as the show's Pan Am characters are based there.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
• The September 22, 1961 issue of Life featured a photo essay of JFK Airport (then known as Idlewild Airport) by Ukrainian-born photographer Dmitri Kessel. Many of the photos were of the newly built Pan Am Terminal.{{Cite web |url=https://www.google.com/images?q=source:life+Dmitri+Kessel+Idlewild |title=Idlewild Airport |last=Kessel |first=Dmitri |authorlink=Dmitri Kessel |date=September 22, 1961 |website=LIFE photo archive hosted by Google |publisher=Life |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180612080713/https://www.google.com/search?q=source:life+Idlewild+%22Dmitri+Kessel%22&tbm=isch |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=June 12, 2018}}

Notes

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

• {{cite journal|author1-link=Thomas Leslie (architect) |author=Leslie, Thomas |title=The Pan Am Terminal at Idlewild/Kennedy Airport and the Transition from Jet Age to Space Age |journal=Design Issues |year=2005 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=63–80 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |doi=10.1162/0747936053103048 |s2cid=57564105 |access-date=October 16, 2011 |url=http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/0747936053103048|url-access=subscription }}

{{Commons category|John F. Kennedy International Airport Terminal 3}}

• [http://psa188.tripod.com/ Archival Port Authority photos]
• [http://www.savetheworldport.org Worldport Preservation Campaign]

{{JFK Airport}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:1960 establishments in New York City

Category:2013 disestablishments in New York City

Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 2014

Category:Airport terminals

Category:Architectural history

Category:Aviation in New York City

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1960

Category:John F. Kennedy International Airport

Category:Pan Am

Category:Transport infrastructure completed in 1960

Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Queens, New York

Category:Jet Age