Chicago - ORD Terminal pre-1990

This may have been answered before, but I did a little search... nada. What were UA's main ORD terminals like before the "new" current terminals were built? I know the terminals and tunnel were built in 1990, so I'm curious of what the old terminal was like before that.

Any UA historians would be useful!

Andrew

Terminal 1 as designed by Halmut Jahn opened in 1987. There was an initial issue with the sun reflecting off the surface and into the eyes of the controllers in the old tower which was resolved. For anyone who was around Chicago in the mid-80's they may recall an issue with the State of Illinois (now Thompson) building also designed by him.

Prior to United taking that location the international terminal was located in that space it was torn down in 1984. It was then located in the lower level of a parking structure prior to Terminal 5 opening in 1993. Pax were bused to the aircraft.

United was in Terminal 2 before Terminal 1 opened.

And if you've ever flown out of the E or F concourses in Terminal 2 on a UAExpress flight, you pretty much can see what the main United terminal looked like prior to 1987. Yeah, it hasn't changed that much at all. At least AA has tried to take the sow's ear that was the original O'Hare terminal design and try to make, well, uh, a sow's ear with skylights in Terminal 3... I guess they've also expanded the check-in lobby, too, in the wake of the increased security necessitated by Sept. 11. Overall, still looks like something out of a bad 60s movie, with tiny waiting areas and crowded "heart-attack alley" concourses. I guess that doesn't make it any different than Atlanta, though, does it?:p

Previous poster didn't mention one other significant change to the new Terminal 1 that is different than the original cutting-edge design. When it opened, the tunnel connecting the B and C concourses had the cool neon lights streaming down it, but it was accompanied by a soundtrack that was very, um, "new-agey" (hard to describe, but it was bad). After many complaints that it was too creepy, making passengers too nervous or scared before their flights, either United or the City of Chicago (which owns O'Hare) changed the music to something more upbeat. It has been changed again over the years, I believe, but it has continued to have a definitely more "upbeat" sound as you walked through the tunnel.

Yup, the existing Y-shaped terminal 2 was all UA. Until recently you could see some of the old UA history, some of the flight displays, and such. If you look around closely you probably would find old stuff from the 70s and 80s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Hare_International_Airport

Yup, the existing Y-shaped terminal 2 was all UA.

Nah, I don't think so. I was flying NW's 747 service from T2 for ORD-NRT-ORD from the 80s to early 90s.

When it opened, the tunnel connecting the B and C concourses had the cool neon lights streaming down it, but it was accompanied by a soundtrack that was very, um, "new-agey" (hard to describe, but it was bad). After many complaints that it was too creepy, making passengers too nervous or scared before their flights, either United or the City of Chicago (which owns O'Hare) changed the music to something more upbeat. It has been changed again over the years, I believe, but it has continued to have a definitely more "upbeat" sound as you walked through the tunnel.

Take a read of PremEx's history of the tunnel:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/3380935-post9.html

It has been changed again over the years, I believe, but it has continued to have a definitely more "upbeat" sound as you walked through the tunnel.

And its currently (and has been for at least 2 years) a riff on Rhapsody in Blue (United's theme song). I always love humming it as I'm walking the walkways.

The original (2) songs that were played in the tunnel were called "Curves" and "Angles". I lost it ages ago, but had a CD of the two of them.

Nah, I don't think so. I was flying NW's 747 service from T2 for ORD-NRT-ORD from the 80s to early 90s.

I believe the NW, EA, BN, (and others) were in T2, but in a finger that was torn down to make room for the current terminal.

Nah, I don't think so. I was flying NW's 747 service from T2 for ORD-NRT-ORD from the 80s to early 90s.

After UA move out in '87 maybe?

After UA move out in '87 maybe?

Remembered NW used the same terminal even my first ever flight in 83. NW 3/4, a 747-151 HKG-NRT-ORD with a fuel stop in ANC.

Also, since it is international, there are glass walls separate the gate for int'l arrivals like IAD.

NW had been in T2 forever, as well as the WorldClub. The reason I am so sure because the NW 747 always connected to a jetbridge, rather than in the artical it mentioned the international flights has to "bus to the plane".

Remembered NW used the same terminal even my first ever flight in 83. NW 3/4, a 747-151 HKG-NRT-ORD with a fuel stop in ANC.

Also, since it is international, there are glass walls separate the gate for int'l arrivals like IAD.

NW had been in T2 forever, as well as the WorldClub. The reason I am so sure because the NW 747 always connected to a jetbridge, rather than in the artical it mentioned the international flights has to "bus to the plane".

The only glass walls that far back that I remember were in the old terminal 1, the old international terminal. It was connected to the UA terminal by a walkway, if I recall correctly, but it was not part of terminal 2, UA's terminal.

The composer (William Kraft of the Chicago area I believe) on the orig music in the tunnel:

BD: Let me ask you about the work you wrote for the United Airlines Terminal at O’Hare Airport.

WK: My statement to them is that art is not to be judged by the Nielsen ratings. It looks like we are going to have the symposium at University of Michigan, because they feel the same way.

BD: I know many of the details, but it want to get them all from you, just to get them straight and from your perspective.

WK: The history, as I understand it, was that they felt they needed something to go into the tunnel that was to join the new terminal to the existing terminal. It was a long stretch, and they thought there should be something in there that would be particularly inviting to the passengers. They had toyed with the Disney people, and someone on the board, I understand, said, “Wait a minute, what are we doing? We’ll have real plastic flowers and real plastic birds,” or whatever it would be; in other words, more on the entertainment side. It was decided that they wanted to have something more aesthetic, of a more serious nature. Helmut Jahn was involved in that, and the former President of United, Richard Ferris. These were the people that were in favor of going to what Michael Hayden had presented. When he was chosen to be the sculptor, Hayden said he wanted to have music. They resisted that. Then he said he wanted my music in particular, and they asked for samples. So I sent them some tapes. and on the basis of that they decided to go along with having me do the music for it. The rest is history. When the tunnel opened and they started to get different views, all I can say is the same thing we’ve been alluding to in this conversation — that people aren’t ready for something that they haven’t heard before, or even haven’t seen. It’s been proven in surveys that music is the most powerful of all the stimuli, and therefore the most difficult to absorb when it’s unknown. The newness of a sculpture can be taken in more readily, whereas it takes time and actually repeated hearings to hear new music.

BD: Let me play Devil’s Advocate just for a moment. Is the tunnel, where travelers are trying to meet deadlines and all they are thinking about is getting to their planes, really the place for them to have an educational experience?

WK: Well, it’s not educational by any stretch of the imagination. Nothing was meant to be educational. It was meant to be a pleasant and stimulating environment. I put it on that definition. The music I wrote was not something that had to be listened to; in fact, there is no beginning or end. It’s just environmental music.

BD: How much music is there?

WK: All together, about sixty-five minutes. There are two sections of music but there are three sections of the sculpture. We’ll call it A-B-A because the outer sections are identical. People coming in will start from either end, so that’s the way Hayden wanted it. The center section, which is the B section, is of a more lively nature. But nothing is heavy.

BD: How long was it used before it was taken off?

WK: Oh, maybe a month.

BD: So they did give it a better shot than just a day or two.

WK: I think what happened is that in the very beginning, before the tunnel opened they started to have some of the flack. The week before it opened is when Richard Green wrote his article. He had a chance to go through it and wrote his article, so when it actually did open, they played the music at such a low level you really couldn’t hear it. What you did get out of it was the peaks. You couldn’t hear the continuity at all. What you heard is just when a louder thing came through, or a higher note, so it was all disjointed. Small wonder people wouldn’t want it. In fact, when I talked to Professor Brown at the University of Michigan, he said they had this seminar on music and architecture where this student, Lesley Hogan, played the music. She had a cassette of the music I wrote for the tunnel, and while it was being played, she read the comments of Richard Green, and he said the students just roared! There’s no relationship that they could find between what he was saying and what they were hearing! The difference in the listener. Those are university students. They are educated, sophisticated more than the average person, perhaps, who’s totally involved in business and doesn’t have time to listen, and hasn’t ever had a chance to really listen. I just don’t think it requires much at all. I think they should become aware.

BD: Let me put one direct question to you that they might ask, and get your response. The people go through the tunnel; they don’t like the music, and they decide not to fly United Airlines. Is United not supposed to take precautions that they don’t turn away passengers this way?

WK: Well, I don’t blame them. I just think that they ought to do it properly and treat it properly. If they were, for instance, to play the music at the proper volume so that it was really heard, and at the beginning of the tunnel say, “We’re proud to present...” They should identify that the sculpture is by Michael Hayden and that the music is by William Kraft, and show that they have some pride in it! Then the people will have a different attitude, and give it a better chance. I say this to orchestra managements, too, if they’re going to do a new work. Tell the audience, “We’re proud to present such and such.” But the way they went at it was just like taking a poll. It was all set off in the wrong way. They themselves had misgivings about the thing. But I’ve had letters from people that didn’t know I had done the music; they found out one way or the other. I had a letter from John Corigliano just a few days ago saying that he didn’t know that I had written the music. He said, “It was wonderful!” He had gone through the tunnel many times when it was still being played, and he thought it was beautiful and couldn’t understand why they would take it out. He said, “Now they’ve got some crap there,” some disjointed Gershwin, I understand.

BD: It’s probably the same kind of things you hear in the commercials, with bits and pieces of the Rhapsody in Blue.

WK: Yeah, I think that’s what it is. And to composers and musicians, that’s such an insult to Gershwin! This is a test case for the problem we’re having with business. With the domination of business in the arts, a lot of our best talents just go right into commercial work because they want to survive! So here they are, doing jingles and all that sort of thing. Whether they’re artists or musicians, they find this lucrative; they can make money!

I was at a used bookstore in New Orleans over the weekend, and was leafing through a 1980s hardcover geography book. It was a condensed look at society, farming, transportation and engineering - I think made for students but all in an Epcot era look.

Under "transportation" they had a photo of terminal 2, E and F gates taken from the control tower, CRT screens in the foreground and every gate of the "Y" shaped concourse filled with old 727s and such - maybe a DC-10?, with every single plane with the white paint and tulip logo on the tails. It was an impressive photo since I rarely see more than an RJ park there.

In reading this I racked my brain for a minute trying to think of what site I saw photo on (was going to link) before realizing it was an physical book. If anyone's interested it's at the Brier Patch bookstore in Metairie, on the far west wall.

And for some odd reason they also sell fish and aquariums.

This may have been answered before, but I did a little search... nada. What were UA's main ORD terminals like before the "new" current terminals were built? I know the terminals and tunnel were built in 1990, so I'm curious of what the old terminal was like before that.

Any UA historians would be useful!

Andrew
I moved from Chicagoland in 1988, and I'm pretty sure I experienced B, C, and the tunnel in between before I moved.

#1. I'm a Chicago native and have flown out of ORD many many times but I'm always amused by people who post all these details about the 70/80's as if they going off memory only and didn't google anything, as if it is a badge of honor.

#2. If I heard the original tunes in the tunnel, and recall them as annoying. I'm sure I would have some good memories as I do remember the constant humming in my head.

#1. I'm a Chicago native and have flown out of ORD many many times but I'm always amused by people who post all these details about the 70/80's as if they going off memory only and didn't google anything, as if it is a badge of honor.

#2. If I heard the original tunes in the tunnel, and recall them as annoying. I'm sure I would have some good memories as I do remember the constant humming in my head.

They weren't exactly tunes. They were more acoustical noises, not actually songs or anything like that.

How can a "Chicago native" not remember THAT? ;)

#2. If I heard the original tunes in the tunnel, and recall them as annoying. I'm sure I would have some good memories as I do remember the constant humming in my head.

It wasn't the music that was annoying... It was the original voice that repeated:

"The moving waLKway is ending please look down"

With that hard empasis on the "LK"... it haunts me to this day.

In addition to the E and F concourses there was also a concourse D, that sort of stuck out like a finger all by itself. The Wikipedia article says it was demolished to make room for the new Terminal one, which is certainly correct.

My recollection is that concourse D existed until quite late in the building process, and I think there was briefly some connection between the mostly finished new terminal and the D gates. I remember lots of plywood walkways. These were all demolished shortly after T1 opened, along with the remains of the D concourse.

Here are a couple pictures I found that show the old terminal.

http://www.windycitystockphotos.com/images/vintage/NA-5000-1916.jpg

http://www.windycitystockphotos.com/images/vintage/1963-5000-1903.jpg

Does anyone else remember when they used to have an observation deck on the top of the terminal? I think you paid about 10 cents to go through a turnstyle and then walk up a flight of stairs. From there, you had a great view of the entire operation.

This must have been in the early to mid 1970's.

I would think that it was probably a security issue and that is why they removed it, but as a kid I really enjoyed it.

Does anyone else remember when they used to have an observation deck on the top of the terminal? I think you paid about 10 cents to go through a turnstyle and then walk up a flight of stairs. From there, you had a great view of the entire operation.

This must have been in the early to mid 1970's.

I would think that it was probably a security issue and that is why they removed it, but as a kid I really enjoyed it.

I do. I think it was on top of the "rotunda" at the head of the G concourse - lIRC, there was also a fine dining restaurant up there - white tablecloths, etc.

Some airports still have ovservations decks, the one at AMS is huge and quite wonderful although hard to find.

I moved from Chicagoland in 1988, and I'm pretty sure I experienced B, C, and the tunnel in between before I moved.

Yes, as ncorman said in the second post in this thread, the new Terminal 1 opened in 1987.

My first visit to O'Hare was shortly after the opening. I remember most of the shops weren't open yet; there were just temporary kiosks in front of plywood panels.

I scanned this a while back, from a 1985 United timetable in my collection:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4061742954_f606cb4a79_z.jpg

(Larger version on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/trainman/4061742954/sizes/o/in/photostream/))

Does anyone else remember when they used to have an observation deck on the top of the terminal? I think you paid about 10 cents to go through a turnstyle and then walk up a flight of stairs. From there, you had a great view of the entire operation.

This must have been in the early to mid 1970's.

I would think that it was probably a security issue and that is why they removed it, but as a kid I really enjoyed it.

Yes, I remember it well and used to enjoy going up there to watch the planes. As I recall, it was above the current Northwest worldclubs in terminal 2. This was in place at least until the mid-80s.

Does anyone else remember when they used to have an observation deck on the top of the terminal? I think you paid about 10 cents to go through a turnstyle and then walk up a flight of stairs. From there, you had a great view of the entire operation.

This must have been in the early to mid 1970's.

I would think that it was probably a security issue and that is why they removed it, but as a kid I really enjoyed it.

If I remember correctly the decks were on the roof of the concourses. You went through a black door and up the stairs to the roof. They had an audio system to hear ATC and maybe those 'binocular' machines for 25 cents.

I scanned this a while back, from a 1985 United timetable in my collection:


I just love seeing these things! "5000 employees to fill the needs of passengers".
What a time document from the age when passenger's comfort and service actually mattered to the airlines :D

Yes, as ncorman said in the second post in this thread, the new Terminal 1 opened in 1987.

My first visit to O'Hare was shortly after the opening. I remember most of the shops weren't open yet; there were just temporary kiosks in front of plywood panels.

I scanned this a while back, from a 1985 United timetable in my collection:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4061742954_f606cb4a79_z.jpg

(Larger version on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/trainman/4061742954/sizes/o/in/photostream/))

So did they take down terminal A and another concorse for the existing terminal 1?

It wasn't the music that was annoying... It was the original voice that repeated:

"The moving waLKway is ending please look down"

With that hard empasis on the "LK"... it haunts me to this day.

No. It was the music, the message came later. It was a bunch of seemingly random pings and apparently sent jet-lagged people into a sort of trance, causing them to fall off the end of the moving sidewalk. Hence the message.