FLOYD BENNETT FIELD, New York
Retrofit Team
ARCHITECT: National Park Service, Washington, D.C.
WINDOW RESTORATION: Femenella & Associates Inc., Branchburg, N.J.
Materials
The municipal airport’s representatives demanded an exacting match for the antique glass panes on the façade of two historic hangars. The original wire glass had not been produced in decades; modern building codes had made it obsolete. Bendheim’s team collaborated with designers and the window restoration team to design a nearly identical substitute, a safety-laminated pattern glass that contains chicken wire.
PATTERN GLASS WITH CHICKEN WIRE PRODUCT AND MANUFACTURER: VintageWire Glass from Bendheim
The Retrofit
Prior to the restoration, the two historic hangars at New York’s first commercial airfield, which is located in Brooklyn, were the most rundown structures on the site. Windows were destroyed, walls collapsed and the roof was missing.
The airfield has a storied history. In the 1930s, 26 around-the-world flights originated from Floyd Bennett Field. Amelia Earhart flew out of the airfield and so did Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan, who crossed the Atlantic and landed in Ireland—after registering his flight plan to land in California.
Photos: BENDHEIM