I. M. Pei's Terminal 6 at JFK to be demolished

[Andrea Fineman]

A recent news item in Preservation Magazine brought to my attention this planned demolition at JFK airport in New York City. I. M. Pei's Terminal 6, built in 1970 for National Airlines and used in the past few years by JetBlue, sits next to Eero Saarinen's Terminal 5, another architectural landmark. According to Port Authority, the space could be converted into a parking lot or a space to de-ice planes. Preservationists aren't happy, and neither is Pei's firm, Pei, Cobb, Fried, and Partners.

One of Pei's buildings here in metro Boston is equally in danger of destruction. His Polaroid headquarters, on Route 128 in Waltham, was abandoned a couple of years ago and now is full of graffiti and broken windows. Weeds cover formerly paved areas around the compound. Plans to redevelop the site stalled after the financial meltdown.

You can atone for Port Authority's sins by making a pilgrimage to some of his many offerings here in Boston. The John Hancock building in Copley Square, the JFK Presidential Library, the west wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Christian Science center, and a host of buildings across Harvard and MIT's campuses were designed by Pei and his firm. (His firm also developed the master plan for Government Center--something preservationists might hesitate to draw attention to.)