Everyone talks about the ‘good old days’ when times were simpler. Take a look at the pictures in this article and see if you recognise the people and scenes in them.
Owen Roberts International Airport (mid-’80s)
I’m certainly not the youngest person walking the land, but I never thought I’d consider myself old enough to talk about the previous incarnation of Owen Roberts International Airport as a ‘looking back in time’ subject. (I’m talking about the edifice that immediately existed before this present one, not even further back, when we used to watch for the arrival of planes by peering through the chicken-wire fence.)
Such utilitarian buildings rarely evoke warm memories in their transient guests. In fact, for many travellers, the airport is where you want to spend the least amount of your time. However, the A-frame structures at ORIA that many of us recall from the ’80s were a different story.
Designed by Chalmers Gibbs – with Cayman’s first National Hero, Jim Bodden, bringing his vision to the table – twin iconic cedar wood constructs sat on opposing sides from each other on the second floor of the airport. It was the one positioned over the waving gallery, however, that held a special place in everyone’s heart.
Family and friends would gather at the balcony to either welcome arriving passengers, or bid loved ones goodbye as they walked out to their planes. I remember when we’d hug someone in the main terminal before they headed to the gates, then race to get upstairs so we could wave to them as they exited the building below us. With fairly simple security for them to go through back then, we had to hustle, or we’d miss the opportunity.
You also learned fairly early on that wearing a skirt in the waving gallery was a big mistake. Summer, winter, spring or fall, those steep frames harnessed the air and turned the area beneath them into a wind tunnel. Many was the time when we’d be waving with one hand, and holding hems down with the other, lest an impromptu Marilyn Monroe à la ‘Seven Year Itch’ moment occur.
And, of course, there was Hungry Horse restaurant, opened by Graham Thompson. Let’s see a show of hands: Who else always hoped that huge corner booth on the far side of the room would be open when they walked in the door? It could hold, like, 100 people (or so it seemed) and was cushioned all the way around. God forbid someone in the middle had to get out to go to the toilet – it meant 10 minutes of shuffling for everyone on one side to allow them to pass. Whenever we were flying out on a family vacation, that’s where we wanted to be.
I liked that restaurant so much, that when I was a part-time cashier at Foster’s Airport, around 17 years old, I decided one evening that instead of taking my break in the staff room there, I and a work colleague would get a taxi to the airport, eat dinner at the Hungry Horse, and get back before our break was over. Every minute counted. We jumped into the taxi, got to the airport, ran upstairs to the restaurant (our beloved big booth was empty – yay!), ordered and ate within 30 minutes, and flew back in another taxi to Foster’s. It all felt very exciting and adventurous, but we had to make sure not to be late, as David Foster was a wonderful employer but took a dim view of tardy staff.
When the Hungry Horse closed, Graham’s son, Ken Thompson, had the bar stools shipped to his father’s resort – Graham’s Place – in the Bay Islands, where they still remain.
So many people have fond memories of that airport. On the Old Cayman Facebook page under a photo of it, Samantha Dorman Pedley wrote, “Each time it was like the first time. The experience was just that magical. I’m so sad that my daughter will never experience this.”
Debbie Parry said, “Brings tears to my eyes remembering all the family and friends I greeted from that tower,” while Ginny Hulse-Krumsiek added, “Such wonderful memories from a simpler and precious time.”
Susan Thomas echoed others’ sentiments, saying, “Lots of tears and excitement experienced on that platform.”
Unfortunately, as international aviation rules, regulations and security became more strict, the waving gallery had to be blocked off in order to prevent greeters’ close proximity to passengers and the parked jets. It was a relic of the time that architect and then-senior partner at Chalmers Gibbs, Arek Joseph, called “when the world was a gentler place”.
Eventually, the increase in visitor traffic, among other factors, meant the airport had to be redesigned and expanded, incorporating more modern facilities and allowing for the greater volume of travellers.
In 2017, the legendary A-frames were torn down to make way for the building we see today. Thankfully, the cedar wood did not go to waste. It was donated by the Cayman Islands Airport Authority and McAlpine Ltd. to the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, repurposed as benches for the Rotary Schoohouse.
They often say that times change and we must change with them. Even if they had kept the old design at our airport, the waving gallery would still have been a thing of the past. I guess we just have to be grateful that we had it at all, and remember watching as those plane doors opened, trying to catch a glimpse of the visitors we were eagerly awaiting, then waving like mad as we saw them stepping out into the sun.
I didn’t realise how much I missed it until just now.
If you have some old photos that you’d like to submit, we’d love to see them to consider them for publication. Be sure to include the credit for the image and any information you have about it. Email to [email protected].
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I love that we were able to experience Cayman during those charming times. The old airport was part of the charm that is now, in recent years, no longer present in Cayman. So sad to see these changes are being allowed.
It’s interesting that Hawaii has always been able to maintain the open air concept at the Airport, yet Cayman not. I would have thought the smaller Cayman airport should have been able to do the same… unless the desire to be the ‘Dubai of the Caribbean’ dictates otherwise!!