It used to be home to a raging bar frequented on Friday nights by Canberra locals. Then it played host to powerbrokers and business people striking deals in a then-luxurious airport lounge. But now, finally, the days of the old Canberra Airport terminal building are almost over.
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The airport unveiled a brand-new terminal, the final stage of a $420 million redevelopment, in mid-March. At the end of March, a delicate, considered demolition of the old Virgin (and, even older, Ansett) terminal began.
Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron said the old airport had been slated for an upgrade in 1980 under the Fraser government. But the funds were strategically reallocated (it was, after all, an election year) to Launceston.
He said the old building would no doubt hold memories for some, and there were stories of rowdy Friday nights at the airport bar dating to the 1970s.
''It's a terminal, when Ansett was operating, that was doing well over a million passengers a year. It includes the old Ansett Golden Wing lounge.''
Mr Byron said the lounge hosted a number of high-profile meetings in the days when Ansett was owned by News Corporation, including the negotiations for the Canberra Raiders to join the breakaway Super League competition in the late 1990s.
But he said by the end of this year the site will have been transformed into two new airport gates within the new terminal, and airport guests will no longer be able to observe the unusual sight of an airport building demolition.
''It's a sign of the times, really, that the work is coming to a close and the airport is coming of age,'' he said.
The airport is negotiating with airlines to bring international flights to the capital city, and Mr Byron said the intention was to connect Canberra with an international long-haul hub, probably in Asia.
