New Orleans Lakefront Airport

About half of New Orleans is below sea-level, so without some human intervention back in the 1930s, its premier GA airport would have been too. It took the Orleans Levee Board back then to pump in six million yards of hydraulic fill and add 10,000 feet of seawall to raise the field to acceptable levels above Lake Pontchartrain. That engineering feat, and the jaw-dropping Art Deco terminal building, drew 10,000 people to the airport’s opening dedication in 1934. The largest and most modern air terminal in the United States, the facility encompassed a post office, hospital, outdoor swimming pool, dining room, and commercial kitchen. Private sleeping quarters and baths provided respite for Immigration and Customs officers. Amelia Earhart was a frequent patron, spending a night in the airport’s hotel en route to her final flight. But it was the interior and exterior finish that earned accolades from the flying and general public alike. The Art Deco façade elements, like the “Spirit of Aviation” figure over the entrance, teased guests to what they would discover inside. The extravagant interior incorporated five types of Spanish marble, multicolored terrazzo, and an inlaid brass compass in the main lobby floors. Travertine stair treads and aluminum Art Deco railings led visitors to the mezzanine balcony for a closer look at the painted tile coffered ceilings and massive molded glass custom light fixtures. The Levee District commissioned renowned artist Xavier Gonzalez to paint eight murals to encircle the second-floor atrium, each depicting a historic flight corresponding to the compass rose in the floor below. All that was almost lost in the 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the terminal became a bomb shelter, and its Art Deco exterior covered by thick concrete panels. Inside, the stunning balcony was covered by a false floor, offices replaced the atrium, and many of Gonzalez’ murals were covered. Were it not for another crisis, this one the destruction and flooding left behind by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which prompted a multi-year restaoration, this story might still be one in the past tense.

Sue Durio is a freelance writer who flies with her husband in their Cessna 310.