Designed by renowned architect Charles McKim, and inspired by the Roman baths of Caracalla, Pennsylvania Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world. Many of the one hundred thousand attendees of Penn Station's grand opening proclaimed it to be one of the wonders of the world. But just fifty-three years after the station's opening, the unthinkable happened. What was supposed to last forever, to herald and represent the American Empire, was slated to be destroyed. The financially-strapped Pennsylvania Railroad announced it had sold the air rights above Penn Station, and would tear down what had once been its crowning jewel to build Madison Square Garden.