Meigs Field

Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport was a single strip airport built on Northerly Island, the man-made island originally created to house the 1933-1934 Century of Progress in Chicago, Illinois. The airport opened on December 10, 1948, and became the country's busiest single-strip airport by 1955. The latest air traffic tower was built in 1952 and the terminal was dedicated in 1961. The airfield was named for Merrill C. Meigs, publisher of the Chicago Herald and Examiner and an aviation booster.

Closing of Meigs Field

In 1995, Mayor Richard M. Daley's office recommended closing Meigs Field and turning Northerly Island into 75 acres (304,000 m²) of lakefront park. In 2001, a compromise was reached between Chicago, the State of Illinois, and others to keep the airport open for the next twenty-five years. However, the federal legislation component of the deal did not pass the United States Senate.

Related Topics:
1995 - Richard M. Daley - 2001 - United States Senate

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In a controversial move on March 30, 2003, Mayor Daley ordered private crews to destroy the runway in the middle of the night, bulldozing large Xs into the runway surface. The required notice was not given to the Federal Aviation Administration or the owners of airplanes tied down at the field, and as a result sixteen planes were left stranded at an airport with no operating runway. (They were later allowed to depart from Meigs' 3,000-foot taxiway.)

Related Topics:
March 30 - 2003 - Federal Aviation Administration - Taxiway

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Mayor Daley defended his actions, described as "sneaky" by general aviation interest groups, by claiming it would save the City of Chicago the effort of further court battles before the airport could close. He claimed that safety concerns required the closure, due to the post-September 11 risk of terrorist-controlled aircraft attacking the downtown waterfront near Meigs Field. Meigs advocates pointed out that Daley had been trying to close the airport since 1995 for non-safety-related reasons.

Related Topics:
General aviation - September 11

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The after-hours destruction of the airport also brought negative editorials from Chicago-area newspapers. The Chicago Sun-Times complained that "without any advance notice or public discussion, the city vandalized its lakefront jewel, Meigs Field." Editorials in the Chicago Tribune pointed out that "the issue is Daley's increasingly authoritarian style that brooks no disagreements, legal challenges, negotiations, compromise or any of that messy give-and-take normally associated with democratic government."

Related Topics:
Editorial - Newspaper - Chicago Sun-Times - Chicago Tribune

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Interest groups, led by the Friends of Meigs Field, attempted to use the courts to reopen Meigs Field over the following months, but because the airport was owned by the City of Chicago and had paid back its federal aviation grants, the courts ruled that Chicago was allowed to close the field. The FAA did fine the city US$33,000 for closing an airport with a charted instrument approach without giving the required 30-day notice?small consolation to groups that were hoping to force the city to restore the airport.

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By August 2003, construction crews had finished the demolition of Meigs Field, and conversion to a lakefront park was fully underway.

Related Topics:
August - 2003

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In the aftermath, the "Meigs Legacy provision" was passed into law, requiring a 30-day notice to the FAA before the closure of an airport, and maximum fines of US$10,000 for every day in violation.

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