Delta and Port Authority Detail Plans to Ensure Pan Am Worldport Is Not Forgotten

By Paul Riegler on 26 June 2013
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The former Pan Am Worldport

The former Pan Am Worldport

Delta Air Lines and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced plans for the redevelopment of the former Pan Am Worldport site, also known as Terminal 3.

Built by Pan American World Airways, the Worldport ushered in the Jet Age upon its opening in 1960 and Delta and the Port Authority plan to pay tribute to its importance despite the building’s failure to gain recognition as a landmark.

Part of the plan may include incorporating artifacts from the Worldport, including models used by Milton Hebald to create the Zodiac on the building’s exterior.  A 200-foot (61-meter) by 24-foot (7.3-meter) windscreen in front of the Worldport’s entrance was festooned with bas relief representations of the 12 signs of the zodiac which were visible from both within and outside the building.

In a prepared statement, Delta and the Port Authority said that it is their goal to “ensure that the Worldport is properly remembered.”

The Terminal 3/Worldport site is being redeveloped to provide additional room for staging aircraft closer to Delta’s two remaining terminals, Terminal 2, which is one of the original buildings from the Terminal City era, and Terminal 4, which recently underwent an expansion driven by Delta.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

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