Pan Am Building & GCT

The Pan Am building construction obviously required the demolition of the old GCT baggage building. But what was involved in creating the new foundation for this building?

Like all the buildings built on the open-lots, the foundation columns had to be driven through the upper level down to the lower level. But for a building with the mass of the Pan Am, this must have been a feat. Did it require radical altering of the upper level in that block? And how could the foundations be secured to bedrock through the lower level? I believe some columns go through the platforms.

Very little on the history of this construction, and it seems to have been done with minimal interference to the railroad.

I remember the demolition of the old Terminal Office Building which sat on the same plot of ground that the Pam Am Building took over in the 1960's. It occurred in the mid 1960's and involved a huge amount of dust and dirt. No wrecking ball or explosives on this one, air hammers, chisels and drills did the job but it was a slow process. The railroad still used portions of this building while the demolition was in progress. I remember going go a New York Central rules class while the demolition was in progress, we could see it right out the window. This building had a lot of railroad offices in it and when it came down the offices were moved elsewhere. A few traces lasted beyond such as some of the elevators in hallways. I remember the elevators by the hallway next to track 23. There were three elevators in this hallway all of them old. They had air operated doors and they opened and closed with a hiss every time. Finally they replaced one with an "automatic" elevator which frequently broke down. We had to use that elevator to reach the sign up room which for a while was on the third floor in what was at one time just a hallway. When the building went bye bye they converted the space in the hallway to the crew dispatcher's office. We signed up there for our initial trips. I was called for an evening train to New Haven and got up to the third floor on that piece of junk but going back down to the main concourse the thing just stopped between floors and that was it. They got one of the old elevators and came up to rescue me through the ceiling of the elevator. Needless to say it was an adventure climbing through girders from the top of one elevator to the side door of the other one. More Memories!!!
Noel Weaver