Daley Succeeds

[HyperDrive 0]

It may sound hard to believe, but one of the most well-known airports in history has been permenantly destroyed. A saddened act presented by Mayor Richard Daley, he had wanted to get rid of the airport for quite a while. A nature preserve (supposedly).

 

Daley sent police, bulldozers, and backhoes to Meigs field at about 11:00PM Sunday night (keep in mind that Meigs closes at 10:00PM due to close-proximity apartments). At around 3:00AM, the City of Chicago presented their Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) that the airport was closed. One would speculate why the Mayor would do this at such a late time? So that groups such as "Friends of Meigs" wouldn't step in and stop the action. All they could do was listen to the reports from WGN.

 

To me, it is sad that one man can have this much power as to close an entire airport. "National Security" was the reason for closing the downtown airport, even though Chicago-Midway and Chicago-O'Hare are just 5-10 minutes away.

 

Meigs was a GA (General Aviation) airport, and had mostly small, single engine aircraft. First of all, a Cessna 172 (as we learned from the Tampa, FL incident) crashing into a building only caused 2 broken windows and a totaled airplane. Meigs, although in close proximity to downtown-Chicago, did not ever seem to be a major security threat in its own. Surely Midway and O'Hare, which take in airline aircraft, are a greater security risk, since they are within view of downtown Chicago.

 

You can read the Chicago-Tribune's Story about Mayor Daley's actions against Meigs for a more in-depth look at what happened.

 

The talk on the AOPA and other flight-related Forums has mostly to do with Meigs. The airport was a national landmark in it's own, because of it's beauty, it's location, and the fact the Microsoft Flight Simulator has used Meigs as their "home field" on the computer game. You can ask anyone who has landed at Meigs how wonderful it is - the sights are amazing. Unfortunatly, no one will ever get that feeling again.

 

Some pictures of the now-destroyed Meigs:

 

 

 

Sincerely,

The Saddened ~HD

[Garnoopy 0]

OMG! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! THEY SAID THEY WOULDN"T! WE HAD A TEN YEAR DEAL!!!

[Garnoopy 0]

:: in absolute shock over here ::

 

This is more than a sad day in my life. Meigs field was part of the state of Illinois, it was a part of the world. I have personally flown into Meigs many times in my life, it is a beautiful airport, and one of teh most unique in the world.

 

I was part of teh group to protest the destruction of this landmark, I helped as much as I could, I thought we had won when a 10 year contract of sorts was signed which stated Meigs could stay, but only if Daley could expand O'Hare INT airport. He now gets to have both the cookie and the milk, and Meigs is gone, and O'Hare is expanding.

 

For those of you whom have never seen Meigs on final approach, it is one thing you'll never forget, one sight to which I am proud to say I've seen, and one sight you will now, never get to experiance.

 

:: greatly saddened, walks away ::

[HyperDrive 0]

Yes, a great heartbreak. I have flown out of Meigs twice (one time only a few months ago). It is quite amazing, looking out over the horizon of Lake Michigan. The site is amazing, and unfortunatly, will probably never be seen again. Meigs Field will bean everlasting memory in every pilot.

 

~HD

[Dumbass 0]

Well I've never flown into or out of Meigs, but ANYTHING has to be better than O'Hare.  

 

The workers at the main food court just don't understand that you can't see what they have ready with 10 people in front of you, but they will try to take your order anyway.  And of course they don't understand that you have to fight with your laptop, ticket, wallet, and sometimes even your luggage before you can even get up to the counter.

 

That and you don't really take off or land from O'Hare.  It seems like you land in St. Louis and taxi in from there.

[Webmaster 20]

I've read a bit about this since it's happened...  and I'm a little suprised at the action of the Mayor...  that he would try to do something like that behind the public's back.  

 

That's going to look bad on him during the next election.

 

He could have gotten his way no matter what eventually, but by acting like that...  I think it shows that he does not have an interest in working with the public or other members of the city government to resolve differences.