American Airlines Terminal at Idlewild
Joseph’s 1959 entry falls during construction of American Airlines’ new terminal at Idlewild.
Robert Sowers' stained-glass facade on the American Airlines terminal at Idlewild — the largest stained-glass installation in the world when the terminal opened in 1960.
Undated · Photo: Glassybones · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
Why this project matters
- Project identity
- Very strong
- Kelly connection
- Family source
- Masonry scope
- Probable
Rita’s list
Transcription: A.A. Arrivals Building — 1959
Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record
KM-031
1 of two
“A.A. Arrivals Building — 1959”
The $14 million American Airlines terminal was under construction in 1959 and opened in 1960.
One of several projects that places Joseph directly inside Idlewild’s transformation into a purpose-built Jet Age airport.
What Kelly did here
Family source
Probable
Likely: most likely heavy-duty CMU/concrete-block enclosure and equipment-room walls, interior partitions, shafts and masonry backup; specialized refractory/stone work should not be assumed without specifications.
This scope is recorded as probable, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.
The construction team
- 01Architect
Kahn & Jacobs with Roy S. Bent
What happened to it
Original terminal demolished / replaced by current Terminal 8
The original American Airlines terminal is gone; American now operates from the modern Terminal 8 complex at JFK.
John F. Kennedy International Airport, Queens, NY
Sources
3 citedOpen →
- 01usmodernist.org
AR 1959 03
- 02usmodernist.org
AIANY 1959 05
- 03newyorker.com
idlewild art
- Glassybones · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Robert Sowers' stained-glass facade on the American Airlines terminal at Idlewild — the largest stained-glass installation in the world when the terminal opened in 1960.
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