The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey plans to demolish a famous airline terminal at JFK International Airport that was designed by I. M. Pei and won the prestigious Bard Award in 1972 of the City Club of New York, according to an article in today's edition of The New York Daily News by Nicholas Hirshon.

The article said that the authority plans to tear down the structure, known now as Terminal Six and most recently occupied by JetBlue, next year "for an unspecified use - perhaps a new terminal, a parking lot or an area to de-ice planes."

"Preservationists blasted the plan to destroy the terminal, which features Pei's distinctive Sundrome pavilion," the article added, noting that "it was the first airport structure to employ glass as a primary construction material."

The article quoted Geoffrey Arend, founder and editor of Air Cargo News, as stating that "it represents an era of aviation" and that the authority's plan is "remarkably stupid."

A spokesman for Mr. Pei told The News that he was "very unhappy" to learn of the proposed demolition.

Nina Rappaport of the Docomomo preservation organization told The News her group would like "the terminal to see flights again, while Arend hopes it can be transformed into a reception area or restaurant."

The terminal originally housed National Airlines and also served Pan American, United and the Chilean airline Ladeco, but the article said it has been vacant since JetBlue moved out in 2008.

According to JetBlue, its main operations home was originally built for National Airlines in 1969. "When National was sold to Pan Am in 1980, TWA procured the building lease. During the late 1990's, TWA leased part of the terminal to United Airlines, who used it for their flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. After American Airlines' acquisition of TWA in 2001, T6 was partly renovated for JetBlue's use, requiring $7.5 million of capital investment for improvements including wider roads, new ticket counters, refurbished restrooms, new baggage systems, and enhanced shops and restaurants."

According to the May 19, 2010 edition of World Interiors Design Network website, "I. M. Pei designed the terminal to be unique with divided roadways to eliminate surface congestion. A drop-off platform in front of the terminal and a pick-up platform at back, helped in making curbside access smooth."

"The terminal," it continued, "consists of two rectangular pavilions for arrivals and departures, interlinked with two cylindrical satellites for boarding and deplaning. Double-height window walls hung from a space frame and supported by concrete columns surrounded the main departures pavilion outside the building. The layout design allowed great internal flexibility and proved readily adaptable to modifications required by the introduction of 747 jumbo jets while the terminal was under construction."

According to the Pei Cobb Freed & Partners website, "Unlike other terminals, where automobile circulation had traditionally been confined to the front of the building and baggage movement to the back, circulation was facilitated by divided roadways to the virtual elimination of surface congestion," adding that "with a drop-off platform in front of the terminal and a pick-up platform at back, curbside access was effectively doubled."