Gander Historic Lounge at Risk of Closing
Jun 23, 2014, 7:59 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2006
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Gander Historic Lounge at Risk of Closing
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06...growing-costs/
The vintage international lounge at the Gander airport in central Newfoundland is a time capsule where Italian marble and designer furniture still exude the faded glamour of world travel.
It’s a vast room, its iconic yellow sofas whimsically arranged on a mezzanine overlooking terrazzo floors and sleek blue chairs where VIPs ranging from global leaders to the Beatles once stopped on transatlantic flights.
It was opened by the Queen as a showcase of Canadian modernity in 1959. But the growing costs of preserving this cultural touchstone have raised the prospect that a more practical, smaller terminal will replace it.
It’s a vast room, its iconic yellow sofas whimsically arranged on a mezzanine overlooking terrazzo floors and sleek blue chairs where VIPs ranging from global leaders to the Beatles once stopped on transatlantic flights.
It was opened by the Queen as a showcase of Canadian modernity in 1959. But the growing costs of preserving this cultural touchstone have raised the prospect that a more practical, smaller terminal will replace it.
Jun 24, 2014, 4:03 pm
#2
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 206
Yes.....so much history in that Terminal.....and sadly, opening in1959, it probably never saw its full potential. This was right at the dawn of jet age with the new B-707s and DC-8s now capable of overflying Gander on transatlantic flights. But go back a couple of years and all the major airlines were there with their Constellations, DC-4s, DC-6s and DC-7s......TWA, Pan Am, BOAC, El Al, Air France, Alitalia etc.
Even Aeroflot, Interflug (East Germany) Czechoslovak stopped for fuel on their way to Cuba and many had their first taste of freedom when they defected during the stopover in the Gander Terminal.
......and not to mention the day nearly 10,000 people just dropped in on 9-11......and had to be housed and fed (watch Tom Brokaw’s Gander piece here):
http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/p...r_brokaw_piece
Even Aeroflot, Interflug (East Germany) Czechoslovak stopped for fuel on their way to Cuba and many had their first taste of freedom when they defected during the stopover in the Gander Terminal.
......and not to mention the day nearly 10,000 people just dropped in on 9-11......and had to be housed and fed (watch Tom Brokaw’s Gander piece here):
http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/p...r_brokaw_piece
Jul 21, 2014, 7:08 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2014
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The lounge has been put on the Heritage Canada-National Trust Top Ten Endangered Places in 2014.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...pace-1.2711544
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...pace-1.2711544
Jul 22, 2014, 3:00 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Posts: 2,159
That terminal is to the golden age of aviation history what big old railway terminals are to railroading. Losing Gander would be a tragic loss, but I appreciate that it is probably an expensive old building to operate.
Jul 28, 2014, 5:34 pm
#5
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
Programs: FT
Posts: 7,285
Agreed. It can not be that much. I mean, look how much ontario wasted on a power plant than never was. If people "want" to save it, they could but most people don't really care because history is spelled with only one I, instead of entirely with I's.