Preserving Iowa City’s Rich Airport Heritage – Vol. 2.

On an earlier post, we present the history of the Iowa City Airport’s Administration & Terminal Building. Designed by Iowa City’s famed architect – Henry L Fisk – the terminal opened in 1953. On this page, we offer a few newspaper articles that appeared in the Iowa City Press-Citizen between March 5, 1951 – when the project was first announced – to the day that the building was dedicated – Flag Day – Sunday, June 14, 1953. Enjoy the journey…

***The March 5, 1951 edition of the Iowa City Press-Citizen announces the plans for the new Airport Administration Building…***

***Above is the architectural design of Henry L. Fisk as published in the Press-Citizen on March 5, 1951. Below left is the full article from that same edition.***

***Below right is a short update in the November 30, 1951 Press-Citizen, giving the details that M.D. McCreedy Construction had been given the $135,000 project which would begin in the spring of 1952.***

**From May 21, 1952 – the construction begins – McCreedy Construction in April 1952**.

Above left – January 24, 1953 – United Air Lines has begun moving their offices into the new building. Transition will be complete by February 1. Above right (and two pics below) – April 11, 1953 – Construction on the building is complete and the dedication date of June 14, 1953 is set.

*June 2, 1953 – Dedication plans for the new building are announced.* *It’s agreed that United Air Lines will remain in Iowa City for at least the next ten years (1953-1963), while the city, in return, gets ownership of the Airport hangar.* Sadly, that agreement was broken in 1959 when the Iowa City City Council failed to fund added airport improvements that United requested in order to keep up with the rapid growth in the airline industry.

***On Saturday, June 13, 1953, the Iowa City Press-Citizen published a 12-page Souvenir Issue celebrating the Flag Day – Sunday, June 14, 1953 Dedication Ceremony. Below are those 12 pages…***

***On Monday, June 15, 1953, the Press-Citizen gave their overview of the Dedication Ceremony – including two pictures from the day (below).***

Finally, below – here’s two United Air Lines ads from the Press-Citizen – the first (left) from May 11, 1953, and the second (right) from November 16, 1953.

Click here to return to Preserving Iowa City’s Rich Airport Heritage – Vol. 1.

**The Iowa City Airport Terminal – 2024 – Photo by Luke Harden**

On July 1, 1976, The Iowa City Press-Citizen published a special 76-page Bicentennial edition. In that edition there were articles and pictures related to stories found on this page. Click here to check it out.