Long Beach Airport

California’s Long Beach Airport celebrates its centennial with cool posters

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To celebrate its centennial year, California’s Long Beach Airport (LGB) is releasing a series of four vintage-style posters that are sure to be collectible.

The first poster, pictured above, is titled “Early Days of Aviation.” This poster celebrates the early 1900s when Long Beach’s sandy shoreline served as the runway.

In this poster, onlookers are amazed as early aviator Earl S. Daugherty—who later helped establish the Airport—soared through the air in an early Curtiss Flyer Model D.

The second poster, “Historic Terminal,” pays homage to the airport’s historic terminal building, which was completed in 1941.

A City-designated Historic Landmark, the architectural gem was designed by architects William Horace Austin and Kenneth Smith Wing in a Streamline Moderne style.

Poster three was released on Wednesday.

The “Keep ‘Em Flying” poster celebrates Long Beach’s robust aircraft manufacturing history and its significant contributions during World War II. In Long Beach women of all backgrounds became Rosie the Riveters, working around the clock to produce military aircraft such as the B-17 at the Douglas Aircraft Company.

The final poster, “Welcome to Long Beach,” celebrates Long Beach’s unique climate, tourism, and manufacturing industries that now help the city thrive. In this poster, a DC-3 is pictured above beach waves, We’ll post that image when it drops.

Once released, the posters will be available free of charge at the Saturday, July 27 grand reopening and public open house of LGB’s Historic Terminal, which recently underwent a major renovation and restoration.

While we wait for those other posters to be released, here’s a video about the renovation of the history terminal at Long Beach Airport.

Long Beach Airport Closes its Historic Terminal. Temporarily

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Long Beach Airport Terminal circa 1962 – Courtesy of the airport

Over the past week, the Stuck at the Airport team has shared news of how Kansas City decided to replace an old terminal with a brand new one at Kansas City International Airport (MCI). And of a new museum in Atchison, Kansas dedicated to iconic aviator Amelia Earhart.

Today we share some news about Long Beach, which is keeping and preserving its historic Long Beach Airport (LGB) terminal. The airport, also known as Daugherty Field, is where Amelia Earhart took her first airplane ride in 1920.

Long Beach Airport Historic Terminal

The terminal building at Long Beach Airport was built in 1941 in the iconic Streamline Moderne Style. It is the oldest municipally-owned airport in California.

Designed by William Horace Austin and Kenneth Smith Wing, the groundbreaking for the Historic Terminal took place on Jan. 11, 1941, with the building scheduled to open on Dec. 8 of that year.

The Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7 delayed the opening, led to the cancellation of all commercial flights, and resulted in the building being painted in camouflage and used as lodging for soldiers and military equipment.

The formal opening occurred on April 25, 1942.

Now a Long Beach Historic Landmark, the terminal building is also home to recently restored mosaic masterpieces created by Grace Clements under the Works Progress Administration Federal Arts Project.

LGB Terminal Renovation Project

Starting this week, Long Beach Airport (LGB)’s Historic Terminal temporarily closes for a year-long renovation that will include a seismic retrofit and restoration of many of its classic 1941 design elements.

Preliminary renovation efforts began while the Historic Terminal was partially open to the public. But now, airport officials say, a full closure of the building is necessary to complete the renovation of the restrooms and building infrastructure, restoration of covered mosaic tiles, and other Art Deco design elements.

The restored terminal building is expected to reopen in early 2024 and is one piece of a multi-part terminal improvement program. Two major components were completed in the spring of 2022, including the new Ticketing Lobby and Checked Baggage Inspection System (CBIS) facility. A new Baggage Claim is currently under construction and scheduled to open in the coming months.

Phase I of the Terminal Area Improvement Program created an award-winning indoor-outdoor passenger concourse in 2012.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day at the Airport

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Love really is in the air at many airports this Valentine’s Day.

We’ve been gathering news of the events and Valentine’s Day offerings at airports, including the pop-up marriage license bureau at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas and the carnations and hand-cut felt hearts Philadephia International Airport (PHL) is handing out.

Here are some more events to look for at US airports:

Free Love Poems at Long Beach Airport

Courtesy LGB Airport

On Valentine’s Day, travelers at California’s Long Beach Airport (LGB) will be able to get free custom-crafted love poems while they wait.

Current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate, Brian Sonia-Wallace will be in the airport between 5 pm and 7 pm with an antique Remington typewriter. He’ll commemorate individual travelers’ love stories with poems created and typed out on the spot.

A second typewriter will be available if passengers want to type their own poems or messages.

Free Flowers at Jacksonville International Airport

As they have since 2009, with a pandemic pause, Airport Ambassadors at Florida’s Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) will be handing out more than 1,000 red, white, and pink carnations to travelers and airport visitors on Valentine’s Day.

More Valentine’s Day Offers at Airports

Between 10 am and 12 pm on Valentine’s Day, Orlando International Airport (MCO) will be hosting a special Paw-Pup snuggle booth staffed by several of the therapy pups from the MCO Paw Pilots program. Look for the booth by the airport’s atrium fountain.

Be among the first to show up you may be one of the lucky dogs who wins a pair of Paw Pilots socks modeled by the pup in the photo.

Need some Valentines? San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) and John Glen Columbus International Airport (CMH) have you covered. And Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is offering a Valentine discount code (good through 2/19/23) for 25% off mobile orders at LAXOrderNow.com.

Travel news from airports here and there

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Tuesday already?

Stuck at the Airport is still doing some catch-up up on news, snaps, and travel tidbits airports shared on Monday.

Like the pink cherry blossom lighting at Reagan National Airport (DCA).

The links to short films courtesy of the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

The Women’s History Month factoid about Willa Brown – who was the first Black woman to earn both a pilot license (1938) and a commercial license (1939), courtesy of Long Beach Airport (LGB).

And the announcement from Tampa International Airport (TPA) about TPA To Go – a new food delivery service in the airport.

Pandemic art at Long Beach Airport

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Long Beach Warrior – by Mer Young

There’s a new pandemic-themed art exhibit at Long Beach Airport (LGB).

The exhibition features work by local women artists commissioned by the airport and the Arts Council for Long Beach (ARTSLB). The 20 pieces chosen reflect uplifting and hopeful messages related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Titled “We Got This: Art in the Time of the Pandemic,” the artwork was printed and installed on large construction barriers in public, highly trafficked areas of the airport. Images will stay up for at least six months, but you can see an online version of the exhibit is available here. We’ve pulled a few images as a preview.

This is Sheltering, by Terry Braunstein

Below is: We’re going to be OK, OK? by Hannah Perez

Here is Safety First, by Karina Vasquez

And here is Corona Transformed, by Diane McLeod