Boston Logan's Terminal C: A successful reboot!

What was new got old, but is now new again. That's the story of Terminal C, the oldest passenger facility in continuous operation at Boston's Logan Airport. Opened as the "North Terminal" in 1967 early in the jet age, the place recently got a $55 million makeover to accommodate the realities of post-9/11 security and also the needs of JetBlue, which, as Logan's busiest carrier, has pretty much taken over the space in recent years.

The changes, in the works for awhile now, were completed this past July. A recent flight from Logan to National Airport in Washington, D.C. was my first chance to check it all out. What I found was a sparkling renovation that brilliantly augmented the terminal's original design with a smart basic plan and some marvelous details. Read on.

In its original 1960s configuration, Terminal C was Dulles lite, featuring a smartly swooping concave roof and sweeping view of the tarmac beyond. Enough glass was on hand to counteract the trendy (and dingy) concrete brutalism, and its big main space was impressive. Envisioned before the energy crisis of the 1970s dulled the appetite for grand public spaces, it bespoke optimism, and wore the years well. Here's what the main concourse looked like in 2004:



In recent years, Logan's other facilities were modernized one by one, and Terminal C began to show its age. In a bad move, more ticketing space was created by lining the airside wall with check-in counters, blocking the tarmac view. In 2005, Delta moved to Terminal A; since then, Terminal C has come to be dominated by JetBlue, now the busiest carrier at Logan and set to take over all of Terminal C when United moves to Terminal B in 2013.

Over the years, practical problems surfaced. For one thing, the two narrow gate piers lacked room for modern security screening — an especially sensitive issue as Terminal C was the departure point for one of the 9/11 flights that hit the World Trade Center. The solution? Create a single modern security checkpoint behind the existing main terminal, from which passengers could access either concourse. As part of the project, Terminal C's old look would be updated from concrete brutalism into something into something zippier and more upbeat.

Fearing the worst, I figured this retrofit would mess up or completely obliterate Terminal C's simplicity and majesty. They'd stick a big prison-like box behind the ticket counters, all concrete and fluorescent lights, because security is not to be taken lightly. And we'd take yet another step away from the magic of flight and toward a characterless, colorless future where air and bus travel are seemingly no different.

So imagine my surprise to find the Terminal C redo a jaunty, colorful triumph! Really! The good things about the place are still all there—the swooping roof, the big main space, the omnipresent murmur—but the new part harmonizes wonderfully with the old, and the entire facility has been transformed into a light, bright and inviting space that can't help but infuse any journey (even the slog through security) with a sense of fun and wonder.

Walking in from Central Parking, your first glimpse of Terminal C comes when you enter an overlook way up near the main hall's sloping ceiling. From this perch, you quickly get a sense of what's to come. Below you, where once there was mostly concrete (I recall the ceiling was done in a cement-gray spackle), now there's light and color. Racing strips of white lights set into the curved ceiling create a jazzy neon-like effect, and the former bare concrete support pillars are now sheathed in curving panels of a translucent ice-blue material lit from within.



It's lighter, brighter, and more buoyant than I could have imagined. Hey, there's life in the old girl yet!



One thing they didn't redo is the main terminal's floor, which still bears all the evidence of more than four decades of heavy use. And good! I think it lends the place character...



But the real surprise was the new consolidated security area grafted onto the airside portion of the original terminal. Rather than just attach a utilitarian box, the designers created a space that harmonizes with the old terminal, jazzes it up, and delightfully restores the panoramic view of the busy tarmac beyond.

It succeeds in several ways. Most impressively, the new area is tied to the old main terminal by the use of two additional swooping roofs! These are lower and are clearly secondary to the main building, but they way they overlap knits the old with the new in seamless fashion.

Another success is how the place uses color and light. First, those neon-like stripes of white bulbs now embedded in the main terminal's swooping ceiling are carried through on the two smaller swooping ceilings that were added. Then, the side walls sport stripes of pastel hues that gradually shift from intense orange through warm yellows and spring greens to sky blue. These function as vibrant accent colors, and their progression follows a passenger's trip through the building, lending a sense of motion and forward progress to the experience, even when you're standing in a slow line. The fact that you can see the tarmac beyond also gives you a sense of getting somewhere. Here's a shot looking back through security that shows how the colors work:



How cool is it that by the time we clear security, we've arrived in an area defined by the color of a clear blue sky?

But there's more. In a masterstroke, numerous narrow support columns were sheathed in a shiny mirrored surface. What's the big deal? Well, each column reflects the rows of white lights in crazy parabolas that change constantly as you move through the space. Also, the columns pick up accent colors from the walls, adding greens and yellows and blues to the mix. The columns also reflect the windows that look out on the tarmac. Here's a sample of the results:



It's really upbeat and exciting and lends a tremendous energy to the space, but in a way that doesn't hit you over the head. I'm not sure how much of this was specifically planned and how much was an accident, but it all came together beautifully!

And numerous details help the place strut. TSA officials work not from improvised lecterns, but from stylish hardwood-sheathed podiums that harmonize with the surroundings. The floor is done in an understated mix of colors that mirror those on the wall, and in asymmetric patterns that add to the buoyancy. Above, even the light fixtures evoke the shape of birds in flight.





Finally, let's not forget the big window that looks out on the tarmac. Looming dramatically beyond the security area, it functions as a destination and pulls you through. And they actually went to the trouble to tilt it forward at an angle, in deference to the original terminal's design. That's a lot of effort that you can't expect in this day and age, but in the Terminal C revamp, they got it right:



P.S.: Alas, not everything was buffed up. Peek in the baggage claim area on the lower level and you'll find it's still the 1970s down there. It's the same low-ceilinged area it always was, making for a dull place, with one exception.



The lower level sports one innovation that I've seen nowhere else. United Airlines has installed a gallery of lost bags displayed in glass cases that resemble oversized aquariums. What a helpful way for an airline to lift the curtain and neutralize suspicion about missing or misplaced luggage. It says, "Here's what we've got, folks!" and that there's nothing to be hidden. Even if your bag isn't there, it's reassuring to know that here's an airline that does take the issue seriously. Bravo to United on this one. Here's a picture. Any bags look familiar?



The successful redesign comes as good news, as Terminal C is a special place for me. My father was a pilot for Northeast Airlines, the hometown carrier for which the terminal was originally built, and he flew in and out of the facility when it first opened. (Alas, he died in 1968, when I was four years old.)

Northeast merged with Delta in 1972, but for many years there was still a strong "Northeast" presence at Delta's Boston station. As late as the mid-1990s, I could find Delta employees behind the counters at Terminal C who had known my father and could tell me stories about him!

At the time, Terminal C (then called the "North Terminal" before the airport's terminals were renamed for the alphabet) housed not only Delta, but two of Logan's 'Blue Chip' carriers -- United and TWA. Both airlines flew jumbo jets out of Beantown on multiple transcontinental non-stops in the pre-deregulation 1970s. I remember United had at least one daily 747 to San Francisco (departing at 9:30 a.m.), while TWA flew L-1011s to the coast. To add to the glamor, TWA's international routes (707s to London, Paris, and occasionally other destinations) departed from Terminal C.

As a kid, Terminal C's main space seemed magical. It created that cathedral-like murmur that all great transportation terminals have. It was a handsome and classy and durable place, and the first real airline terminal I ever set foot in.

One final thought from the present. Up on the main concourse, the renovation project left this hideously mirrored wall intact. Well, you can't have everything...