Public broadcasting ran a documentary on Penn Station the evening of Jan. 31st.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/penn/
Being no expert on Penn Station, I found the documentary interesting. The theme that a private corporation would undertake such a project was driven home. Today, that would be extremely unlikely.
In today's business climate, the shareholders would scream mightily at the cost of a project of that magnitude.
The documentary was objective on the station's destruction.
Penn Station was a magnificent, artistic work of architecture as public space. Public space, but privately constructed and owned space. The documentary told of the Pennsylvania Railroad's declining fortunes after 1945.
The Pennsylvania Railroad was not villified for demolishing Penn Station to sell the air rights to the property.
A great companion book is Conquering Gotham, by Jill Jonnes. If you've read the book this documentary gives you pictures with the story.
It was a beautiful building, but not a very practical train station. Unlike Grand Central Terminal, you could enter and exit Penn Station without even seeing the lavish upper level concourse and waiting area. The top floor was primarily a showpiece. All the action happened just like it does today--in the basement levels.
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