Gander airport seeking designer to help open historic international lounge to public

It's the crown jewel of Gander's airport possibly of any Canadian airport and it'sone step closer to being open for the world to see.

The international lounge at Gander International is a designer'sdream, full of furniture and artstraight from 1959. It's been dubbed the "single most important modernist room in Canada" by the National Trust for Canada.

It's been mostly sealed off for decades, but the airport authority has a plan to get it open tothe public again and is now issuing a request for proposals, seeking a design company to refurbish the room and create a self-guided tour for visitors.

"We can't go back to 1959, obviously, but we can give some of theartifacts, thefurniture and some things that are under duress a bit ofa lustre," said airport authority CEO Reg Wright.

Wright said the airport had about 120 tour buses show up this summer, butthe room isn't visitor-ready.People can stand above it and look down through a glass wall at the entire room, but actual access to the lounge is restricted to special occasions.

The boost in visitors is two-pronged, Wright said. The main attraction has been the Broadway musicalCome From Away,which has been a smash hit around the world and inspired people to visit Gander.

The other factor has been a revived interest in mid-century moderndesign, sparked by the TV showMad Men,starring Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss, which was set in the 1960s.

Gander's request for proposals comes with an Oct. 31 deadline.

Wright hopes the international departures lounge, which has hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra and Queen Elizabeth II,will be open for new visitors by next summer.

"I would love to say it will be [open] June of next year," Wright said."Some people who have experience with this say that might be ambitious but we've certainly done a lot of work getting things in the can with hopes we can accelerate it through."

It's all part of a $1.5-million overhaul with funding from the provincial and federal governments, aimed at attracting more visitors to the airporteven if they aren't hopping on a plane.

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