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Meigs Field closed~~Crews dig up runway in middle of the night
ABC 7 Chicago ^ | 03/31/03 | Paul Meincke and Andy Shaw

Posted on 03/31/2003 7:02:03 PM PST by cherry_bomb88

March 31, 2003 — Meigs Field is now out of service after the city cut into its runway. According to the city and the FAA, Mayor Daley has the authority to close Meigs, but many want to know why he chose to do it now-and in the middle of the night.

Very few people knew what was about to happen when the heavy equipment rolled into Meigs Field Sunday night at about 11:30. The FAA wasn't even informed until 2 a.m. Monday, well after the hired crews had started carving four X's into Meigs runway.

"I still can't believe it happened. It's pretty upsetting, to say the least," said Dr. George Shehl, a cardiologist from West Virginia in town for a convention. Nobody told him the runway was being destroyed. Shehl's plane is one of 16 now sitting at an airport that no longer has a working runway.

"The closure at Meigs reduces the risk and perception of risk at Meigs. It makes Chicago a safer city and makes us feel like a safer city," said Mayor Richard Daley.

The mayor today said his decision to close Meigs was based on security considerations even though there have been no specific threats, and as recently as ten days ago, he said there were no plans to close Meigs. He acknowledged that he wants to turn Meigs into a park, but offered no plan or timetable, and he defended his decision to move under cover of darkness, repeatedly calling it appropriate.

"I am not willing to wait for a tragedy as some have asked me to do, to happen before making a very difficult and tough decision," said Daley.

"What happened today was vandalism. And if mayor daley was a student in his schools he thinks he is improving, he would be seeing the principal," said Rachel Goodstein, friends of Meigs Field.

The group Friends of Meigs and other general aviation pilots are infuriated by what they call the Mayor's storm trooper tactics in destroying what they believe is an irreplaceable asset.

"This is a question of taking away a city asset that people, that the people of Chicago have invested tens of millions of dollars in and throwing it away," said Steve Whitney, Friends of Meigs.

The FAA says it's "concerned" by the mayor's action that it will put more pressure on O'Hare and Midway airports. The Air Traffic Controllers union calls it a stealth maneuver that's a major step backwards for Chicago and the epitome of arrogance. George Shehl and 15 others want their planes back.

"This is completely unprecedented in the history of general aviation in this country. This was a last possible thing I thought would happen. Now I'm concerned about my airplane," said Shehl.

The plan is to allow those 16 planes to take off using the 3,000 foot long taxiway here at Meigs. While that is possible, but it is subject to FAA approval and that could come in the next couple days. The Friends of Meigs say that they are exploring legal possibilities, but when you look at a pile of asphalt it makes that extremely difficult.

Before the bulldozers: the long debate over Meigs Field Andy Shaw

The mayor's unusual move at Meigs comes after years of political debate over the airport on the lake. His decision to shut down the airport now was apparently born of frustration that Federal Aviation Administration officials ignored his safety concerns for months before temporarily making downtown Chicago a "no-fly zone" two weeks ago-- even though New York, Washington D.C., and Disney theme parks have been off-limits to flyovers since 9-11.

"I think just the whole debate about the flight restrictions, temporary flight restriction and how hard it was to get as compared to Mickey and Minnie getting it," said Mayor Richard Daley.

As for the controversial decision to shut down the lakefront airstrip late last night without an announcement, Daley wanted to render Meigs unusable before anyone could file lawsuit to stop him.

"We made the decision and did it for public safety," said Daley.

"I think it is ironic we are fighting a war in Iraq to fight a man who does whatever he wants to do in his country and we have a mayor who is doing the same thing," said Barbara Whitney, Friends of Meigs.

"I support the security part but doing it in such a way, I don't support that," said Albert Su, Chicago resident.

Daley's tactics may offend some people, but he got nearly 80 percent of the vote in last month's election and most city residents don't care about Meigs.

"Does it matter to a Chicagoan? Not really, I never used it," said Sarah Moore.

The Blagojevich administration is solidly behind the mayor. Even though Daley didn't tell the governor or Lt. Governor Pat Quinn about it until this morning.

"With respect to Mayor Daley, he has good common sense and I think we can place a great deal of reliance on his good judgment," said Lt. Governor Pat Quinn

"This is a pure and simple land grab and he is hiding behind homeland security to try to make it happen," said Steve Whitney, Friends of Meigs.

Daley defends decision to close Meigs Statement made from City Hall

As most of you know by now, we have closed Meigs field. We have done this to protect the millions of people who live, work, and visit our downtown Chicago in these very uncertain times. Nine days ago, as you know, we announced that the FAA and the Homeland Security Department had approved our requests for a temporary flight restriction over the greater downtown area. We are grateful to those agencies for approving the restriction, but it's simply not enough to insure an appropriate level of safety and security to the people of Chicago.

First of all, a temporary flight restriction is just that-temporary. It could be lifted at any time without the approval of the mayor, the city council, the people of Chicago.

More important, it does not address the problem that occurs every day as the aircraft approaches Meigs Field within a few hundred yards and only a few seconds flight time of our tallest buildings. And not just our tallest buildings, but hundreds of thousands of people not only at the Taste of Chicago and the Grant Park concerts, the Museum Park, Navy Pier, Water Filtration Plant, will be using the beaches and visiting our museums.

Those airplanes appear to be going to Meigs, but within sudden turn, they could cause a terrible tragedy downtown on our crowded parks. That scares me. It scares people who live, who work, and visit our downtown. And who use our parks and work every day here in the city of Chicago. They should not have to wonder whether the airplane that appears to be headed for Meigs might have other intentions.

There is very little the city can do to reduce the risk of an attack by an aircraft. We have no control over airplanes in the air. We had to fight for months just to get the temporary flight restriction, months and years as well. But we can control whether we have a city airport that's a few seconds away from the heaviest concentration of people in buildings in North America.

The closure of Meigs reduces the risk and perception of risk at Meigs. It makes Chicago a safer city and makes us feel like a safer city.

Why did we act so quickly? Because the fears exist right now. To do this any other way would have been needlessly contentious and jeopardize public safety, prolonged anxiety among Chicagoans for months and year.

The groups that want to keep Meigs open are certain to be unhappy with the decision. I understand the concern, but public safety must come first and foremost here in the city of Chicago. The private aircraft that have been using Meigs will find plenty of space at other regional airports and there are. Yes, it will be less convenient for them, but the safety of the entire city had to take precedent over the wishes of a relative handful of private pilots and businesspeople.

As for 16 small planes currently parked at Meigs, we're awaiting word from FAA as to whether it will allow them to take off on the runway. Regardless of the FAA decision, I want to assure the owners of the aircraft the city will reimburse them for the expenses of removing the planes from Meigs.

Some of you may be wondering how the city can afford to close Meigs. In fact, Meigs has been subsidized to the tune of $3 to $4 million by the airlines and customers using O'Hare International Airport. Closing Meigs will provide welcome financial relief to our cash-strapped airlines.

Finally, to anticipate what I know will be a question, yes, I do want a park at Meigs Field. Yes, I am fully aware that many of you will likely question for months to come the motive for closing the airport. The reason we closed the airport now is a fear shared by the Park District, emergency management specialists, and myself about all those airplanes coming so close to so many people in the downtown area.

While there have been no specific threat, let me repeat -- there has been no specific threats-- as mayor of the city of Chicago, public safety is one of the primary responsibilities. I take it very seriously. I am not willing to wait for a tragedy as some have asked me to do, to happen before making a very difficult and tough decision.

Thank you very much.

FAA concerned about Meigs closing

Federal aviation officials say they were concerned to learn this morning that Meigs Field was shut down because removing any centrally located airport, such as Meigs, puts added pressure on Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway airports.

FAA Great Lakes region spokesman Tony Molinaro says the city can close Meigs because it is an "unobligated airport," which means the city has paid back all the federal money that was given to it for the airport.

Spokeswoman says governor didn't know about Meigs closing

A spokeswoman for Governor Rod Blagojevich says they didn't know about the Meigs Field closing ahead of time. But spokeswoman Cheryle Jackson says they weren't surprised either.

She says Blagojevich found out about the closing this morning from Illinois Department of Transportation staff.

Jackson says Blagojevich supports closing Meigs because of the security concerns of having a landing strip downtown.

Jackson called Meigs a convenience and a luxury that current security issues no longer allow.

She says the governor used Meigs to fly back and forth to Springfield, but now will use Midway.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: airport; daley; dictator; meigs; qusaydaley; saddamy
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To: El Gato
Yes, and the 2nd amendment is coming under fire in a LARGE way right now in the IL house & senate thanks to Daley...we should all be writing our reps about that at the state level if you haven't!
61 posted on 03/31/2003 7:57:45 PM PST by cherry_bomb88 (Born & raised native California Girl transplanted in Daley Hell)
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To: battlegearboat
Chicago is like a minature Iraq.

Even Iraq was content to cover their runways with debris to stop us from using them; they didn't trench them.

What needs to happen for Daley to be held personally responsible for the repair costs?

62 posted on 03/31/2003 7:59:54 PM PST by supercat (TAG--you're it!)
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To: cherry_bomb88
Jackson called Meigs a convenience and a luxury that current security issues no longer allow.

So you cut the runway with bulldozers. Seems awfully permanent to me. Just putting out barriers on the field and taxiways would surely have been sufficient. Follow the money. See who gets the contract to develop the park, and who gets to do other developement on the vast majority of the land, found surplus to the needs of the park.

63 posted on 03/31/2003 8:00:04 PM PST by El Gato
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To: cherry_bomb88; All
this guy seems to think its ok

sounds like a socialist to me, from his reply

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/881192/posts?page=78#78

64 posted on 03/31/2003 8:01:12 PM PST by Ford Fairlane
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To: HairOfTheDog
Are you a local there? - Is this *really* about security concerns?

I'm a suburban local. Daley's been dying to do this for years. Security my you-know-what.

65 posted on 03/31/2003 8:08:04 PM PST by BlessedBeGod
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To: Skybird
Was an "environmental impact" assessment done prior to the bulldozing of the runway?? Sounds like federal lawsuit material to me!!

Excellent idea. Through a little that liberal cr@p back in their faces. Somebody call the EPA, after calling "W" first of course.

66 posted on 03/31/2003 8:08:27 PM PST by El Gato
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To: Ford Fairlane
i live here i was shocked and awed! he wanted to close this airport for a while so he can build a park and name it daley lake front park. he is a idiot to do this in the middle of the nite.you should of seen how he let the anti war morons close down lake shore drive last week!
67 posted on 03/31/2003 8:08:38 PM PST by phuzman (n)
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To: cherry_bomb88
******g Idiots. Daley is a nazi.
68 posted on 03/31/2003 8:10:41 PM PST by Check6
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To: Skybird
Was an "environmental impact" assessment done prior to the bulldozing of the runway??

Hahahahahahah! Silly Freeper. Laws don't apply to Democrats. When the dead vote for you, why should you worry about anything?

69 posted on 03/31/2003 8:13:16 PM PST by Question_Assumptions
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To: KeyLargo
He has got to be getting a kickback on this project somehow.
70 posted on 03/31/2003 8:13:57 PM PST by proudofthesouth
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To: Russell Scott
Made famous as the home airport of the original MS Flight Simulator.

I never new Meigs existed until I got my first PC flight simulator (MS Flight Simulator). One of my favorite stunts was to take of to the north from Meigs, make a climbing left turn, turn on the smoke trail, and see how tight a "donut" I could make around the top of the Sears Tower.

I never knew how realistic the simulator was until I flew into OHare from Boston, and -- coming in over the lake, I spotted Meigs and the Tower -- I had this sudden powerful and eerie sense of deja vu...

71 posted on 03/31/2003 8:19:08 PM PST by TXnMA ((No Longer!!!))
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To: finnman69
"why is this breaking news?"

Today's Monday. Last night the tyrannical bozo had bulldozers dig x's all over the runway to destroy them, with CPD backup. No EPA permits, no notice to the FAA, or anybody else for that matter. Unless of course you count his discussions with his cohorts to maximize his chances of getting away with it. He had an agreement with the State to keep it open 'til 2026.

72 posted on 03/31/2003 8:20:10 PM PST by spunkets
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To: spunkets
Did this jackass Mayor even bother to find out what is involved in getting the aircraft that are there now out? What if they CAN'T use the taxi way to depart? What if they also WON'T FIT on a truck to get them out? Does this clown have any CLUE what it would cost to dissassemble and reassemble aircraft to get them moved? How about the cost of moving utility poles and so forth, if thats the only way to truck them out? It would probably end up cheaper to re-do the runway. But then, he HAD a runway. Duh!

At the very least, the owners of the stranded aircraft should sue for loss of use, ALL costs involved in getting the planes out, and for any other losses involved.

This thing sounds so childish! I thought I had it bad living in NY State. The folks in Chicagoland seem to have an imature little jerkwad running things there.

Nik
73 posted on 03/31/2003 8:33:29 PM PST by Nik Naym
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To: Nik Naym
At the very least, the owners of the stranded aircraft should sue for loss of use, ALL costs involved in getting the planes out, and for any other losses involved.

I hope there's some way to hit they mayor in the pocketbook personally. This action was patently illegal; the residents of Chicago shouldn't have to give up their tax dollars to pay for the crimes of their mayor.

74 posted on 03/31/2003 8:38:05 PM PST by supercat (TAG--you're it!)
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To: supercat
This action was patently illegal

I'm hoping you are right - the whole state has been suffering under this moron - Washington was an Idiot, but Daley is a tyrant that has run the state for too long, because no governor gets elected that his family can't control

75 posted on 03/31/2003 8:46:17 PM PST by Ford Fairlane
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To: cherry_bomb88
Here in Central Illinois this seems like a good thing--just not taken far enough. Maybe tonight 'da Mayor' can complete the job and bulldoze big chunks out of all the roads leading out of Chi-town, then the drug runners and murderers will be stuck in the city and will have to leave downstate alone. Seriously, the man has gone over the edge--that's what happens when our national family of liberals is allowed to inbreed at will.
76 posted on 03/31/2003 8:46:24 PM PST by RyeWhiskeyJoe (Dear God, Bless our troops & protect them in their service to US.)
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To: All
In addition to writing to those listed in the post to which this responds, bring up http://www.friendsofmeigs.org and declare your outrage!

This is the worst act of destruction in Chicago in years, perhaps the greatest impact since 9.11.2001.
77 posted on 03/31/2003 8:58:19 PM PST by unspun ("Well I'm proud to be a FReeper, where at least I know I'm an American; and I won't forget....")
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To: SamAdams76
O'Hare is the largest. It's almost completely separated from the City, connected to it by a small isthmus of City land. Midway is inside the city on the southwest side. It's smaller, but 727's and L-1011's get in and out just fine. I use both, but prefer Midway due to the smaller size. Meigs is a one-runway airport that handles general aviation and small commuter flights only. It's on an island right on the lake front, right next to the Loop. I don't approve of his methods, but Daley is right about the proximity of the planes in and out of Meigs to downtown Chicago.
78 posted on 03/31/2003 9:02:11 PM PST by RonF
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To: HairOfTheDog
Did he just dig a rut in the middle of it? I hope no one tries to do an emergency landing.

Kinda says it all . . .

79 posted on 03/31/2003 9:02:36 PM PST by Mr_Magoo (Single, available, and easy)
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To: RonF
the proximity of the planes in and out of Meigs to downtown Chicago.

That's why it was such a good airport, they had a shuttle service to take you to the train, you could get anywhere in chicago easily, a business trip to downtown was painless (especially downtown)

80 posted on 03/31/2003 9:06:09 PM PST by Ford Fairlane
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