Portland International Airport officials and community members celebrated the airport’s 75th birthday on Tuesday with cupcakes, artwork and brief comments as passengers rolled their luggage through the terminal to catch their flights.
The airport opened Oct. 13, 1940, as “Portland Columbia Airport” and served only 99,000 passengers in its first year, according to the Port of Portland, which operates the airport. It was renamed Portland International Airport, best known as PDX, in 1951 and today serves 16 million passengers annually with nonstop routes to 57 domestic and nine international locations.
“We are a city and state of makers. Because of that, we have a rich culture,” Billie Moser, Travel Portland vice president of international tourism, told a small crowd gathered under the clock tower in the airport’s Oregon Market on Tuesday. “We really don’t just enjoy the outdoors. We celebrate the outdoors. We’re here today to celebrate PDX.”
The airport is commemorating its history by displaying artwork in concourses, including a 12-foot by 24-foot mural depicting the airport and local scenery, as well a video wall depicting the history of PDX.
The mural, by regional artist Lynsee Sardell, will become part of the port’s permanent art collection and will be named through a contest that is part of the anniversary celebration.
But at the heart of the celebration was a sand sculpture carved out of 1,500 pounds of sand by Bert Adams of Yacolt. Adams is an award-winning sand sculptor and founder of Portland’s Sand in the City event, held in Pioneer Square.
Adams said he wanted to combine the old and the new to commemorate the airport’s history and celebration. The dark gray sculpture included the old and current airport towers, as well as the 1940s terminal, an old car pulling into it and a large PDX 75 logo on the front.
“You have to have the logo on there, front and center,” he said.
Adams, getting ready to feast on a celebratory cupcake, said his Sand in the City events are held around the country and even overseas to raise money for charities. He said he hopes to one day hold a sand sculpture contest for high school students in Vancouver at Esther Short Park.
Several Clark County-based companies operate retail outlets at the airport, including Beaches, The Barbers and Burgerville. And one third of the employees who work at PDX are Clark County residents, airport spokeswoman Kama Simonds said.
In addition to the displayed artwork, officials from the Port and Alaska Airlines also gave a nod to PDX.
“It really is one of the jewels of our system,” Alaska Airlines PDX Station Manager Gavin Graham said.
The airport is also asking people to share their favorite PDX memory, either through a video, audio or written submission, at pdx.com/pdxmoments. Through Nov. 29, the airport will feature a story a week and that person will receive a PDX carpet mat. One winner will get a $500 PDX air travel voucher.
