Seven years later, the wealthy and privileged want their little airport back
With Mayor Richard Daley set to leave office, it’s time to bring back Meigs Field, according to private pilots who still bemoan the shutdown of the lakefront airport seven years ago.
General aviation pilots from across the country suggest that the changing political climate in the Chicago will not only lead to a new mayor, but also possibly a new Meigs.
“From what we’re hearing and seeing, the aviation blogs and Twitter are alive with conversations about whether Mayor Daley’s departure may create an opportunity to rebuild Meigs Field,” said Chris Dancy, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
===The airport was a favorite among private pilots and business people who could land their planes near downtown and be at meetings in the Loop within minutes.
“More than seven years have passed since Chicago‘s Meigs Field was bulldozed under cover of darkness, but the airport has not been forgotten,” said Craig Fuller, president and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
“Grassroots support for Meigs is still alive, and many in the aviation community view Mayor Daley’s decision not to run for re-election as a hopeful sign that the field could be restored,” Fuller said.
The local group Friends of Meigs is still active campaigning for the airport’s reconstruction.
The stunning thing about the Meigs debacle is that Daley isn’t even the most arrogant party in it. A bunch of private pilots want an airport instead of a park in a place that was routinely limited in its service due to weather to be rebuilt instead of having a park that benefits the entire city. Why? So they can get to downtown really easy. Did you know there is mass transit from several other air facilities in the region? Or a cab? Or a Limo? All sorts of choices–that everyone else has….
To some extent the AOPA and pilot’s fight about Meigs was as much about trying to stop people from closing airports in the middle of the night by decree.
The mayors reasons for closing the airport was BS (the distance between Lansing Municipal, Gary and Meigs in terms of downtown as a terror thing is negligible)
But much like a NRA or ACLU arguing a point that most would go ‘O Brother’ with the closing of airports is the type of thing the AOPA will always go to bat on.
Having flown in and out of Meigs once in a plane and about a billion times in Flight Simulator I can say it was a cool airport. But in the grander scheme of things a park is fine and a park it will remain.
===To some extent the AOPA and pilot’s fight about Meigs was as much about trying to stop people from closing airports in the middle of the night by decree.
I would disagree pretty strongly with this part of what you are saying. They fought the city closing the Meigs for 10 years through and would likely have filed more suits. That’s all fair–and Daley broke the law by night giving the notice, but the closing itself wasn’t by decree, but by ordinance passed by the City of Chicago and the poodles we call Alderman. Poodles or not, they had the right to close it.
Terror was a side issue that Daley glommed on to to justify it when what he really wanted since he became Mayor was a park there and had fought to close the place for 10 years.
I don’t doubt it was cool, but it had limited usefulness and was largely for rich people and people on state planes. That’s not a justification to keep it open.
You need more approval to close an airport than just the local government even if they operate the airport in most cases. This is really the case if you took federal money.
http://www.aviationairportdevelopmentlaw.com/2010/01/articles/faa-1/airports-2/considering-closing-an-airport-be-careful-the-faa-has-set-many-pitfalls-to-trap-you/
That is part of the reason why the city had to pay back a million dollars in federal money it took for the airport.
Also the way he did it was well a jerk move that had some very real possible safety implications (you just don’t take controlled, instrument approach airports off line without notice).
Yes, the AOPA would have tied it up in court longer, that is what those sort of groups do. It is in a nutshell their job, just like unions who go to bat for really bad employees who should be let go, because that is what unions do.
I would argue that tearing up the runways in the middle of the night without federal approval was kind of like doing it by decree.
Just because the poodles said it was ok to do it did not give the mayor carte blanch to do it any way he wanted to. So in my opinion it was kind of by decree.
People who don’t use or participate in general aviation understandably don’t fully comprehend the asset that it is to this country. It is a business tool, and no doubt some business would be drawn to downtown if Meigs were in place. General aviation provides jobs and business opportunity throughout the nation. A popular waterfront airport in St Petersburg Florida came close to demise until the citizens were educated and voted to keep the airport. No doubt there are good arguments on both sides of the issue. I would suggest that those interested take a look at the following website……http://gaservesamerica.com/
===I would argue that tearing up the runways in the middle of the night without federal approval was kind of like doing it by decree.
===Just because the poodles said it was ok to do it did not give the mayor carte blanch to do it any way he wanted to. So in my opinion it was kind of by decree.
By decree would to me would mean he did it without approval of the legislative body and he had that meaning the City of Chicago had the authority to close the airport. That it was a dick move is no doubt and the fines were reasonable and I don’t disagree with the idea that it was unsafe. The rule of law should even apply to the Mayor.
Much of the rhetoric from Friends of Meigs is that Daley just did this without the legal authority to close the airport at all not just that he did it in the wrong way. That’s just as arrogant to me as Daley was.
===People who don’t use or participate in general aviation understandably don’t fully comprehend the asset that it is to this country. It is a business tool, and no doubt some business would be drawn to downtown if Meigs were in place
So compare it to the value of the new park space. What’s the cost benefit analysis to the City of Chicago and all of it’s citizens.
The private/ business pilots have been suckled on the taxpayers welfare for so long that they think they own it.
The scandal of a small group of wealthy ( save the sob story of the 1 poor boy out of a 1,000 ) can hide behind federal regulations to lower peoples property values with noise pollution, air pollution ( piston planes still use leaded fuel in most cases) and avoidence of local regulations just to protect an expensive carbon intensive hobby while claiming subsidies, tax breaks and general avodance of responsibilities is amazing.
Private and small business planes do not pay for the air traffic control system they us that is subsidized by the people flying coach.
Private and small busines planes have almost no security. That’s how a domestic terrorist could fly a plane into an IRS building without having any screening.
Private and small business planes, in most cases, pay no fees to airports unless they either buy fuel there or overnight at that airport. maintence and operations costs are subsidized by the local tax payers.
Most airports can gt the classification of the type of planes they are allow to use the airport changed by decree of a locl Port/ airport authority. This has led to greater noise pollution as more airports started to accept more and more small jets to replace the piston powered plane they were built for.
During the Rethuglican Contract on America in ’94 when user fees went up for national parks, national monuments, museums and areas of genral public usage these priviledged and pampered few were specifically exempted so they could continue to enjoy the welfare benefits paid for out of the tax payers pocket.
As for Meigs field good riddence to bad rubbish.
I think you have to ask the question, what was Daley’s original plan for Meigs Field, the real reason for the shutdown. One guess, it was not to build a park. It was originally going to be the site of Chicagos’s Casino Gambling, the lagoon would have been the venue for the casino, and Meigs Field was going to be the parking lot for the casino. And when the economy started to go sour, and no one was willing to put up $150million to open a casino, as they were starting to lose money as an industry.
Daley looked to create jobs, and a pot of gold at the end of the airfield, to feed the city’s coffers and most likely some organized crime types pockets.
It just did not workout, and a park was the best hail Mary pass everyone could accept as public spirited. As an airfield, it would go back to earning money for the city, overcharging those OPW corporate types for easy access to the city.
Small problem–his plans for the park go back to 1992/3 before he wanted a casino. But it was a nice theory.
BTW, Meigs lost money so I have no idea how it would go back to earning money for the city because it hadn’t for many, many years.
(please read in a snivelly british voice) 🙂
As an OWP, I say bollocks to Mayor Daley and the little people park goers. Isn’t there a park with a fountain across the street a few blocks? You can go there and wash in the fountain when your unemployment runs out. Perhaps I’ll hire you to wash the windshield on my Bently.
“Let them eat Eli’s” I say, give me back my airport!!!
The park might have been the original plan, but the site was to be co-oped for the Casino. The Casino didn’t work out, back to plan A. Meigs lost money because of how it was run and by who it was run by. Perhaps in this economy it would be a tough sell charge a premium for corp jets to land their, but maybe not?
Where do you get your conspiracy theories? Seriously–what is it about Daley and Meigs that brings out so many loons?
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20040510/NEWS02/200012450/daley-reveals-his-hand-on-chicago-casino
Mr. Daley was flanked by leaders of Chicago’s convention and tourism industry, who agreed with him that gaming would help attract visitors here and provide what Mr. Daley said could be $600 million to $700 million in annual tax revenue for the state and $250 million to $300 million a year to local governments.
The mayor would not say where the city-owned, privately operated casino should be located, beyond suggesting he is primarily looking downtown. He did rule out residential neighborhoods, Navy Pier and Northerly Island, the former home of Meigs Field. He equivocated when asked about rumors that a gaming complex might be located around McCormick Place.
Of course, I have no idea why he would put a land based casino in a lagoon as you suggested, but just keep making shit up.
My my my aren’t we sensitive. When were land based casino’s in Illinois approved? No one has to make anything up. Meigs, in terms of the Mayor was going to be a win win. Park was planned, Meigs expenses decrease when shut down saving the City money. But, if investors could be found, Meigs would have been the most attractive area to accomodate parking, it was basically a parking lot already. Casino built and floated in. Quick, cheap and plenty of land to accommodate the parking. If no investors, the park as planned.
The investors would have made the final decision as to whether or not floating or land based, as it would have been their money. But floating would have been far cheaper cost per square ft, and built a lot faster.
Up and running in the downtown on the waterfront for a lot less. A win win for both the city and investors.
My, aren’t we a loon promulgating a conspiracy theory.
Other than in your mind what evidence do you have of this? None.
The Mayor pursued a land based casino downtown since the time he was pursuing making Northerly Island a park. He did this entirely on two tracks and repeatedly said a casino would not be on Northerly Island. So…provide some actual evidence that this was the case and not just a conspiracy theory.