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Some stories from Chicago’s history are not widely known, while others may have already reached you, like what happened to the old Merril C. Meigs Field.
It is a moment that the aviation industry still remembers.
On the night of March 31, 2003, Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered the destruction of the lakefront airport.
Bulldozers carved large “X”s into its track, rendering it unusable.
No one knew, not even the Federal Aviation Administration.
This decision was not only surprising but controversial.
“There were about 20 planes stuck at the airport. They were parked, they were there for business meetings, personal reasons, and without warning, the bulldozers came in and really prevented them from leaving,” said Doug Carr, senior vice president of the National Business Aviation Association.
Carr spoke to NBC Chicago on behalf of the association, which has been heavily impacted by Meigs’ closure.
The airport was mainly used by travelers and businesses due to its proximity to the city center.
Meigs Field was built after World War II, ready for takeoff in 1948.
In 1955, it was the busiest single-runway airport in the United States. Daley had said that safety was the primary concern, which prompted its demolition.
“After 9/11, there was a real fear of a terrorist attack in Chicago,” said former Chicago City Councilman Dick Simpson. “However, that was a false assumption as part of Mayor Daley’s excuse to get rid of Meigs.”
The decision is still considered one of the missteps of Daley’s career. In the years that followed, aviation industry figures lobbied to preserve Meigs Field, but to no avail.
“We found that the energy of the city combined with the support of Congress and the FAA was simply not enough to overcome the runway trenches,” Carr said.
If you weren’t around at the time of this controversy, you might never have known that a runway existed. Two buildings associated with Meigs Field still stand: the terminal building and the air traffic control tower.
The land where the airstrip once stood is now a lakeside park with a nearby concert hall.
This was the intended use from the start, according to the architectural plans of 1909. But will it remain so?
“It’s just too convenient not to use it to its fullest, and I think there will be developments over the next few decades,” Simpson said.
