Time Travel: Greater Pittsburgh Airport’s First Terminal
A 1988 video reveals what air travel was like in the days before ultra-tight security, snack-only flights and baggage fees.
The *new* midfield terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport is now 22 years old. A pretty familiar place to most of us.
So who remembers the first terminal at Greater Pitt? It opened back in 1952, the same year Dwight Eisenhower was elected President.
We can still feel some nostalgia for the curving elegance of the old terminal, fueled in part by this home video shot in 1988.
Here’s hoping your Thanksgiving travel is stress-free.
— Richard Cook
#Updates: Pittsburgh International Airport reveals new Welcome Center
Photo courtesy of VisitPittsburgh
Holiday travelers might spot something new at the airport.
VisitPittsburgh this week unveiled an improved Welcome Center.
The biggest change is its location, moved from the back of the baggage-claim area to a more central spot on the ground floor of the landslide terminal.
The new center also features man-cave-sized 80-inch LED high-def video monitor to promote Pittsburgh and spotlight various events.
With its new central location, airport officials and VisitPITTSBURGH expect to double the number of visitors who stop by the Welcome Center.
—RC
#Stargazing: Head to Mingo Creek Observatory for Bundle Up Starfest
photo BY dave dicello
Under the 20-foot-high planetarium roof at the Mingo Creek Park Conservatory, children lie on the floor, teenagers snuggle awkwardly and locals strain their necks to gaze up at an overview of the night sky that will stretch above them later that evening.
Associate Director Gene Kulakowski tells the assembled guests that there are approximately 200 billion stars in our galaxy. To help visualize that number, he instructs everyone to imagine Heinz Field filled with birdseed. If that’s not enough to make you feel tiny, then just look up at the sky from the darkness of Mingo Creek County Park.
Bundle Up Starfest, the observatory’s last “star party” of the season, is scheduled for Nov. 29. If the sky is clear enough, Kulakowski will take observers outside to show them some of the constellations they just learned about in the planetarium. Call 724/348-6150 to learn more.
—Katie Booth
