Recently, Grand Central Terminal celebrated its 100th year standing. Grand Central is such a symbolic and beautiful building and we can only thank Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for the fact that its still standing. When a major company had other plans for the building, she stepped up to save the Beaux-Arts building. In early1975 he was very upset when Grand Central’s landmark designation had been voided by the court. This cleared the way for the railroad to build over the station with a Marcel Breuer design that looked like a shoebox lid standing on its side. (Brown 3013).
She felt so strongly about Grand Central not only because of its symbolism is Manhattan but the historic preservation of the architecture. She was born and raised in New York City and was very passionate about it. After reading a front-page story in the New York Times about the station’s plight, she joined in the fight with the Municipal Art Society. Municipal Art Society was the group that had successfully called for the city’s first zoning code, planned the subway lines, and pioneered the Landmarks Preservation Law in 1965 as a result of the destruction of the original Pennsylvania Station. (Brown 2013). As we know, not only was Penn Station knocked down, but many felt insulted by its replacement—the modernist office complex and the hideous squat black steel-and-glass arena called Madison Square Garden. They worried the same would happen with the city's other railway station. Grand Central has so much history, she did not understand why anyone would want to destroy it. From then on she took it upon herself to use her power to lead the movement to end plans of destruction.
Grand Central had taken ten years to complete in 1913 at the staggering cost of $65 million. By 1929, 47 million passengers were passing through the terminal. In the lobby, you could see soldiers coming home, rocket ships launch on a jumbo screen. In the baby boom years after World War II, the suburbs were draining families and revenue from cities, especially New York. Train stations, in their neglect, had become seedy and run-down, and Grand Central was no different. It was dangerous and depressing. Its cerulean blue ceiling depicting the zodiac in gold was virtually obscured by soot from the city and its skylights, painted black during the war, remained so. Kennedy knew there was beauty beneath the grime and still pushed to turn it around although most of New York had given up on it. According to Guthrie & Meadows (1998), She said;
Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? Americans care about their past, but for short term gain they ignore it and tear down everything that matters. Maybe… this is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won't all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes.
Her first major step in the process to save Grand Central was her speech at the Oyster Bar. In her speech she said, ”If we don’t care about our past we can’t have very much hope for our future. We’ve all heard that it's too late, or that it has to happen, that its inevitable. But I don’t think that's true. Because I think if there is a great effort, even if it’s the eleventh hour, then you can succeed and I know that’s what we'll do.” (Guthrie & Meadows1998). This inspired change amongst New York. They no longer felt the need to give up and start from new but to fix the great building that was already there.
The next great step for Grand Central’s preservation movement was to convince New York Mayor Abraham Beame, to spend money to fight the railroad’s development plans. Jackie thought that Beame, needed to be the hero. In order to persuade him to do so she him wrote a convincing letter and hoped it would work. Beame announced within a week that he would appeal. He said, "This case has great significance to the future of preservation in New York City and in the entire United States," Beame announced in a statement. "Grand Central Station was designated a landmark because it is a landmark in every sense of the word; it is a symbol of life in the City of New York.” (Carey 1987)Shortly after this, plans for destruction had stopped and restoration had begun.
Jackie Kennedy has been an American idol for decades. Her preservation advocacy continued after Grand Central as she helped save other Manhattan landmarks, such as Lever House and St. Bartholomew’s Church. She also blocked a skyscraper proposal for Columbus Center, two miles away from her home. But her campaign for Grand Central Terminal is still above the rest. Such an icon for American society made it easy for her to use her popularity in order to persuade others to think like her. She used her fame for good use and made a huge impact on New York City.
References
BROWN, J. L. (2013). The Heart Of New York: Grand Central Terminal. Civil Engineering (08857024), 83(3), 38-41.
Carey, J. (1987). Eyewitness to history. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Guthrie, B., & Meadows, B. (1998). Jackie’s Gift. People, 50(15), 158.
She felt so strongly about Grand Central not only because of its symbolism is Manhattan but the historic preservation of the architecture. She was born and raised in New York City and was very passionate about it. After reading a front-page story in the New York Times about the station’s plight, she joined in the fight with the Municipal Art Society. Municipal Art Society was the group that had successfully called for the city’s first zoning code, planned the subway lines, and pioneered the Landmarks Preservation Law in 1965 as a result of the destruction of the original Pennsylvania Station. (Brown 2013). As we know, not only was Penn Station knocked down, but many felt insulted by its replacement—the modernist office complex and the hideous squat black steel-and-glass arena called Madison Square Garden. They worried the same would happen with the city's other railway station. Grand Central has so much history, she did not understand why anyone would want to destroy it. From then on she took it upon herself to use her power to lead the movement to end plans of destruction.
Grand Central had taken ten years to complete in 1913 at the staggering cost of $65 million. By 1929, 47 million passengers were passing through the terminal. In the lobby, you could see soldiers coming home, rocket ships launch on a jumbo screen. In the baby boom years after World War II, the suburbs were draining families and revenue from cities, especially New York. Train stations, in their neglect, had become seedy and run-down, and Grand Central was no different. It was dangerous and depressing. Its cerulean blue ceiling depicting the zodiac in gold was virtually obscured by soot from the city and its skylights, painted black during the war, remained so. Kennedy knew there was beauty beneath the grime and still pushed to turn it around although most of New York had given up on it. According to Guthrie & Meadows (1998), She said;
Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? Americans care about their past, but for short term gain they ignore it and tear down everything that matters. Maybe… this is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won't all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes.
Her first major step in the process to save Grand Central was her speech at the Oyster Bar. In her speech she said, ”If we don’t care about our past we can’t have very much hope for our future. We’ve all heard that it's too late, or that it has to happen, that its inevitable. But I don’t think that's true. Because I think if there is a great effort, even if it’s the eleventh hour, then you can succeed and I know that’s what we'll do.” (Guthrie & Meadows1998). This inspired change amongst New York. They no longer felt the need to give up and start from new but to fix the great building that was already there.
The next great step for Grand Central’s preservation movement was to convince New York Mayor Abraham Beame, to spend money to fight the railroad’s development plans. Jackie thought that Beame, needed to be the hero. In order to persuade him to do so she him wrote a convincing letter and hoped it would work. Beame announced within a week that he would appeal. He said, "This case has great significance to the future of preservation in New York City and in the entire United States," Beame announced in a statement. "Grand Central Station was designated a landmark because it is a landmark in every sense of the word; it is a symbol of life in the City of New York.” (Carey 1987)Shortly after this, plans for destruction had stopped and restoration had begun.
Jackie Kennedy has been an American idol for decades. Her preservation advocacy continued after Grand Central as she helped save other Manhattan landmarks, such as Lever House and St. Bartholomew’s Church. She also blocked a skyscraper proposal for Columbus Center, two miles away from her home. But her campaign for Grand Central Terminal is still above the rest. Such an icon for American society made it easy for her to use her popularity in order to persuade others to think like her. She used her fame for good use and made a huge impact on New York City.
References
BROWN, J. L. (2013). The Heart Of New York: Grand Central Terminal. Civil Engineering (08857024), 83(3), 38-41.
Carey, J. (1987). Eyewitness to history. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Guthrie, B., & Meadows, B. (1998). Jackie’s Gift. People, 50(15), 158.