In June 1961, the New York City Board of Estimate awarded a contract to the architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates for the construction of a scale model of New York City within the City Building. City officials planned to install suspended cars to allow visitors to see the model during the 1964 New York World's Fair. The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for Lester Associates in West Nyack, New York in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World's Fair.