NEWS
Aviation

148-00: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , October 25, 2000

PORT AUTHORITY TO MOVE HISTORIC AIRPORT TERMINAL, AN ART DECO LANDMARK, TO NEW LOCATION -- Heaviest Structure Ever Transported on Rubber Dollies


Newark International Airport's original Airport Terminal Building, dedicated in 1934 by Amelia Earhart, was the starting point for more than a few historic flights in its heyday.

Now the art deco terminal, all 7,000 tons of it, has taken flight itself: it began a journey today of about 3,700 feet, to become the centerpiece of a new airport police and administration building, as part of the airport's redevelopment program. The site left vacant will be used to create additional passenger parking.

The structure, one the nation's first airport passenger terminals and a National Historic Landmark, was used by millions of passengers in the 1940s and early 1950s before being retired from service as an airport terminal in 1953.

Now, nearly three-quarters of a mile from its present location, the 65-year-old edifice known as Building 51 will form the core of a new building housing the Port Authority Police, a garage for emergency vehicles, administrative offices, and a museum with exhibits showcasing Newark Airport's rich history.

"Building 51 has been an important part of the history of both Newark Airport, the great city of Newark and this region," said Barry Abramowitz, Acting General Manager of Newark Airport. "It was the first passenger terminal at the airport, home to the world's first air traffic control tower, and was dedicated a National Historic Landmark in 1979. It is important that we preserve this building as a tribute to the ingenuity of an earlier generation."

Twenty-nine hydraulic jacks were used to slowly lift the building, and almost 1,000 tons of support structure, eight feet into the air. That was high enough for rubber-wheeled dollies, capable of supporting 50 tons each, to be slipped underneath the building.

The wing-shaped terminal has been divided into three sections. Each will move at a rate of 100 feet per hour, making stops every few days to manually reset dollies for changes in direction. After the building is gently lowered onto new foundations, another 63,000 square feet of office and workspace will be added to the present 33,000 square-foot, two-story structure. The relocation of the original terminal is to be completed by early spring and cost approximately $6 million.

The work is being carried out by Prismatic Development Corporation of Fairfield, N.J, the project contractor, and their specialty subcontractors International Chimney Corporation and Expert House Movers, the same team that successfully moved the Cape Hatteras, N.C. Lighthouse in 1999.

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