Nearly seven years ago, I was able to relay the good news that the restoration of New Orleans' WPA-era gem, the Lakefront airport, was underway and to celebrate the announcement with a photo diary of the beautiful, 1934 terminal.
Despite many trips out to the airport since the restoration, I've not been able to see the interior until now (the building is often booked for private events or film shoots). Yesterday, I finally got a good poke-around and must say the place is more wonderful than ever.
Come see.
In the 1960s, when America went mad with Cold War terrors, civil defense shelters were all the rage. The city of New Orleans, eager to keep up, hired the architectural firm of Cimini and Meric to encase the Lakefront terminal in a concrete sarcophagus, transforming the great gem of Deco design into a Soviet-modern, brutal concrete block. Such were the times.
But the architects of Cimini and Meric must have figured the city would one day come to its senses, for they designed the framework for the encasement so that it could be easily removed. Today, the original exterior stands revealed (all but the two giant statues that once flanked the front entrance).
The restoration, led by architect Alton Oschner Davis, concentrated on preserving the original beauty of the building and removing the mid-century "improvements" like the concrete shell and the drop ceiling that concealed the mezzanine to make a warren of dark offices for members of the Orleans Levee Board. Now the grand sweep of the main hall is revealed again.
Also restored to public viewing are Xavier Gonzalez' eight flight-themed murals, the restoration of which has just begun.
The Walnut Room restaurant and lounge needed little restoration, but has gotten a good buffing. It remains a lovely spot to watch the flyers come and go.
Mr. Davis and the group of firms executing the restoration are to be praised for their discretion and lightness of touch, leaving in place all the original details and materials, down to the last brushed-aluminum rail and marble door casing, even keeping the phone booths in the hall under the great stairway (though they stand empty of actual pay phones in our new cellular age).
All in all, a magnificent job done on a project well worth doing. Should you find yourself in the City that Care Forgot with an hour to while away, jump off the tourist track and come fly with us.