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It may be deserted, but everything still works!

Fri 17 Sep 2021    
EcoBalance
| 2 min read

While not lifeless yet, the old abandoned airport terminal at New Orleans Louis Armstrong International (MSY) still stands functional. 

Just months before the COVID pandemic swept the world, New Orleans inaugurated its sparkling new $1.3 billion (AED4billion)  airport terminal, which speaks more to where the Crescent City, that was headed for the next 300 years than groveling in its past.

Architecturally speaking, the ultramodern César Pelli-designed airport terminal is a global gateway that might look more at home in Bahrain than the Bayou.

Its last day of operations was November 5, 2019, when nearly 15,000 people walked through its doors. 

A native New Orleanian, Kevin Dolliole, the airport’s director of aviation felt nostalgic when describing what it’s like when he steps from his new 21st-century airport showplace back in time to the old facility where the airport’s administration offices are still open.

“My very first flight was out of this facility when I was seven years old,” he says. “And having worked here over the years, having all of the memories of the hustle and bustle in this facility it was really strange and almost sad to see it in a state like this,” he added. 

It has been a while since a passenger has set foot in the place nor a jet parked on one of its gates since its last flight in ​​2019 before the world changed forever.

One would have expected to find a deserted shell with old tickets, unsold magazines, all around this terminal, but instead, New Orleans, a city that reveres its past, has cleaned and temporarily preserved the city’s old front door, a stay of execution, before the inevitable. One can also find the lights and air conditioning on inside with even functioning restrooms.

Apart from a layer of dust, what was left behind in this terminal is almost perfectly preserved. Almost all of the 1.2 million square feet terminal will eventually meet its end, with the original 1950s-era departures hall being the first to fall to the wrecking ball in the next 18-24 months. 

The Old MSY terminal still has a faint heartbeat. Much of the building continues to be managed because the airport’s administrative offices, emergency operations center, law enforcement offices, and maintenance, carpentry shops remain here; and will continue to for some time. Their move was delayed by the pandemic.

The long-impressive terminal has found a temporary second life as a location for TV and film productions which provides a steady revenue stream. Some of the shows shot here include: “NCIS: New Orleans” and the adventure reality game show “The Amazing Race.” The airport director even suggested that he “tried to convince the producer to put clues in my office, but they didn’t end up going for it.”

For anyone interested in owning an old ticket counter, a baggage claim carousel, gate chairs, or even a jet bridge; there is most likely to be a public auction.

Source: Agencies


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