Terminal 8 and Robert Sowers’ grand window in the 1960s
American Airlines Terminal 8 at John F. Kennedy International Airport was completed 48 years ago (the airport was still called Idlewild then) and was recently razed to accommodate the airline’s plans for a new mega-terminal on the site. One contentious part of the terminal demolition was what the airline would do with the building’s iconic 317-foot-by-23-foot wall of red, white, and sapphire stained glass. Created by artist Robert Sowers, it was the largest single stained glass window in the world at the time of its construction.
Although funding and a recipient art institution never materialized to take the entire window as one unit, a local salvage company, Olde Good Things, won a contract from American to dismantle the artwork and keep what the airline did not need.
They are now offering the rescued panes for sale at around $95 a square foot in their Chelsea store and have created a special set of red, white, and blue mini-windows from the Terminal 8 glass salvaged from JFK that are now available online.
AA Stained Glass Window Sun Catcher 8×8 inches – $150
AA Stained Glass Window Sun Catcher 12×12 inches – $200
