Meigs Field News Archives:

Representing the Friends of Meigs Field will be spokesperson Josh Levy.  At this writing it was uncertain whether Park Superintendent Tim Mitchell would represent the park district.  The program may be live (if Mitchell cannot attend an earlier taping), or taped (Mitchell apparently has a conflict of schedule for the actual air time.)

Details:
Program:  Chicago Tonight
Channel:  WTTW Channel 11
Date:  Thurs. 2/10/2005
Time:  7:00 PM
Rebroadcast:  12:00 Midnight

The move means that the issue will come back before the board for a final vote sometime later this year.

Opposing the move were both Steve Whitney of the Friends of Meigs Field and Rachel Goodstein of the Meigs Action Coalition.

Objections included site access, parking security, lack of public input, environmental impact, and the fact that by settling for a meager $800,000 per year in revenue, the Park District was sacrificing a huge amount of funding available from the Friends of Meigs' Parks and Planes proposal.

“This is all about money,” said Whitney. “If they weren’t dangling some funds out there for Northerly Island development, no park group would support this action. Yet they are suppressing an opportunity over 100 times greater.”

Graphic Demonstration of Funds Available:  The Giant Check

During his comments, Whitney held up a two mock checks and a bill to illustrate his point. “Here is the bill to develop Northerly Island,” said Whitney, holding up a large-sized document, a foot and a half high. “In 1996, the Park District estimated it would take $26 million.  Let this size of this bill represent $26 million.”

“Here is the money being offered by Clear Channel,” he said, holding up a tiny check, less than 4 inches long to compare to the size of the bill. "It doesn't come close to covering the bill."

“Here is the money available from our proposal,” he said, holding up a giant check almost 4 feet in length.

“Yet this is what the Park District wants to do,” he said, ripping up the giant check. “It’s government at its worst.”

Coverage of the meeting was included on several local TV stations, news radio and in both major daily newspapers.
 

Click above for ABC 7's coverage of the story.

Click above for CBS 2's coverage

Upcoming coverage:

Watch tonight (Tues. 2/8) on NBC Channel 5 Chicago (www.nbc5.com) at 10:00 PM, when Josh Levy of the Friends of Meigs Field will be interviewed.

Also, tune in tomorrow (Wed. 2/9) morning to WBEZ 91.5 Chicago Public Radio to hear comments by Steve Whitney, president of the Friends of Meigs Field.

 (Listen online at www.wbez.org, requires RealPlayer)

Read the Sun-Times' coverage by clicking here.

“This proposal is absurd,” said Steve Whitney, president of the organization. “Meigs Field is a lousy location for a festival site, especially one of this size. Access is poor, via a single road; public facilities for ten thousand concertgoers are non-existent; safety, security, and parking would be a nightmare.”

“More importantly, no one wants this type of activity there,” said Whitney. “While our proposals for Meigs are being censored, we still have attended every Park District planning meeting. Nobody at those meetings—not even our opponents—thinks this type of activity is good for the site.”

The proposal is wasteful and redundant. In the past 2 years alone, the Park District has opened new public event venues totalling over $1 billion—including state-of-the-art concert facilities—at Millennium Park and Soldier Field, both within walking distance of the site.

Other concert venues within walking distance of Meigs Field:

The Park District—though desperate for funds—has ignored and censored proposals for the Meigs site that could bring in up to $100 million or more in revenues. The Friends of Meigs Field have offered a mixed-use proposal for a combination park/airstrip/air museum, funded entirely by federal aviation funds, and providing scores of millions in excess revenues to benefit neglected parks across the city. The proposal has specifically been excluded from options offered at Park District planning meetings. (Proposal available online at www.friendsofmeigs.org)

“This is another example of the ‘bread and circuses’ approach,” said Whitney. “Distract them with concerts and maybe they won’t notice the condition of the parks in poor neighborhoods.”
 

WBEZ is available to listen to online at www.wbez.org

Wednesday, Jan. 26, Garfield Park Field House, 6:00 PM

The Chicago Park District plans the second in a series of public meetings to “involve people from every part of Chicago in determining how Northerly Island is used.” (We guess they mean people except people who would like to see an airport return to Meigs Field.  See story, Chicago Park District to Friends of Meigs: "Go away")

Tonight's meeting is planned for Garfield Park, 300 N. Central Park Ave.  Future meeting locations will include: Humboldt Park (2/19), Marquette Park (3/2), and South Shore Cultural Center (3/15).

Join us in supporting Parks and Planes:
What: Public meeting to gather input on the future of Meigs Field/Northerly Island
When: Today! Wednesday, January 26, 2005, 6:00 PM
Where: Garfield Park, 300 N. Central Park Ave.

Please speak on behalf of reopening Meigs Field

The meeting will include informal "breakout" sessions to discuss possible plans for Meigs Field. Please be prepared to voice your strong support for a mixed-use, combination park/airstrip/air museum, and your opposition to the closed planning process being used. 

This time, Alderman Joe Moore from the nearby 49th Ward participated, and made a public statement, both endorsing the Friends of Meigs' Parks and Planes proposal and protesting the heavy-handed approach of the Park District planners who have excluded consideration of the proposal from the start.  The Chicago Tribune covered the story (below.)

Park District director of planning Arnold Randall once again tried to tell Meigs supporters that they did not belong at the meeting, but instead should take their case to the City of Chicago "which manages airports," ignoring the fact that the Park District controls the land.  This statement brought loud protests from Meigs supporters who pointed out that this was the only venue offered for input on the future of Meigs.

Perhaps most encouraging were statements by more than one non-Meigs supporters.  "Perhaps there is a way to do both [a park and an airport]," said one attendee.  "I'd like to hear more about this proposal."  The Parks and Planes plan would create a combination park/airstrip/air museum at Meigs and also bring in up to $100 million or more in federal aviation funds for upgrading other Chicago parks.

The next planning meeting is scheduled for Wed. January 26 at Garfield Park on the west side.

Last October, the Chicago Park District announced that it would seek public input on the future of Meigs Field (aka "Northerly Island.")  The Friends of Meigs Field--though concerned about how such a process might be conducted determined to work cooperatively within the system as long as that system was fair, open-minded, and inclusive.

When the first planning meeting was held, several concerns were identified, including censorship of ideas, disrespectful and divisive statements by Park District representatives, and the lack of public hearings on the closure of Meigs.  The Friends of Meigs Field requested 5 specific and reasonable changes to the process:

1. One or more public hearings on the closure of Meigs Field.  (The current meetings are not public hearings, are not held before decision-makers, and have no opportunity to present written or oral testimony.  The only hearings since 1996 on the closure of Meigs Field were in 2001, from which the decision was made to preserve the airport until 2026.)
    
2. Display of all relevant proposals to the development of Northerly Island.  (Friends of Meigs' Parks and Planes proposal was specifically excluded from display at the planning sessions.  When Friends of Meigs complained, all other organizations' proposals were also censored.  We believe that the best approach is to air all ideas.)
    
3. Modification of the "visioning" exercise to include images of mixed-use park/airstrip/air museum elements similar to those proposed in the Parks and Planes proposal.
    
4. An opportunity to present the Parks and Planes/Bessie Coleman Skypark proposal to the head of the Park District and the Mayor of Chicago.
    
5. A commitment by the Park District to cease disrespectful, divisive and knowingly false statements by officials and to correct the record when statements are shown to be false or misleading.

The Park District did not reply before the second of seven planned meetings, and no changes in the process were observed at that meeting.

Instead, on January 3, Mr. Arnold Randall, Director of Planning and Development for the Park District replied via letter, saying "concerns about airport development can best be addressed through the City of Chicago, who manages airport operations...It is not our intention to conduct any planning sessions that focus on airport development or any area that is not strictly related to park development."

In other words, there is to be no public say on either the decision to close Meigs nor the possibility of a park/airstrip combination, no matter how good it may be.

LaSalle Bank building fire
(Chicago Tribune photos)

Learn how Meigs Field benefits high-rise rescue efforts, lake searches, disaster relief and air traffic control

Moreover, the Chicago Fire Department's response was, in some respects, hampered by the absence of Meigs Field, forcing the Fire Department's helicopter to have to leave the scene to refuel twice during the blaze, for periods of nearly an hour.  Meigs Field would have been considerably closer and faster than the remote Midway airport.

The "earwitness" account below was provided by Josh L., a Chicago pilot and Friend of Meigs Field who listened to the Fire Department radio conversations via his scanner:

9:24 PM:

"I'm listening to my scanner...

"The cfd chopper had to leave the scene to go get fuel... Where, at midway. Meigs would be much more convenient and faster... The chopper has been on the scene and providing valuable pireps... Its an hour into the fire, more trucks are being called to the scene and a very critical time to leave the scene. The last pirep from the chopper to squad was that the fire is not being contained, we need to go to midway for fuel... This was at 824-825 pm on fire dept freq 154.13. .... Now its 835, more trucks were called to the scene... I will blog this until the chopper returns on scene... Now 4 more engines called to the scene, no chopper yet... Chopper back on the scene at 917 pm... Since then the fire spread to the 30th floor, and mostly put out on the 29th... That is a very long time for fuel, at least they didn't goto 95th but meigs would have been faster!

"Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry"

9:53 PM

"The cfd chopper has been providing reports on the status of the fire...when it was gone, the fire spread to the 30th floor... When it came back, it they called in the spreading fire and directed firemen in the building as to the location and direction in which the fire is spreading and gave them direction as from where to put hoses and water... There is no doubt that the aerial monitoring was valuable and that in the lengthy time it took to refuel the fire spread...."

10:21 PM

"My guess is that the length of time to get fuel and come back to the scene has to do with the fact that there is no cfd base there at mdw... They do not have fuel tanks standing by, or ground crew dedicated to the cfd.... They would have to wait for fuel on the ground, I presume...that's all my thinking, not proven, but probably right."

12:00 AM

"The chopper left for fuel again at 1100 and arrived back at the scene at 1157."

Temporary Flight Restriction over fire would benefit from Meigs

At the same time, the FAA issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) establishing a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR or "no-fly zone") around the fire scene (see below.)  If Meigs' control tower had been in operation, it could have helped coordinate the air traffic in the area:

According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association today, the City of Chicago has responded to the complaints of the Federal Aviation Administration that it closed Meigs Field without proper notice and illegally used FAA Airport Improvement Funds to demolish Meigs.

In the City's response to the FAA filing in October, the City of Chicago claims that Meigs was an "abandoned" airport (remember, there were a dozen aircraft left stranded the night they tore up the runways!) The City also claims it should not be penalized for using--not $1.5 million as originally claimed-- but $2.8 million in federal Airport IMPROVEMENT Funds (emphasis added) for the demolition of the airport.

The FAA is proposing to fine the City the maximum possible for the lack of notice of the closure, $33,000, but fines could skyrocket if it is found that the City illegally diverted federal funds.  If the City is found in violation and refuses to repay the money, fines could be triple the amount of the misspent funds, or $8.4 million.

The FAA's action comes in response to a complaint filed by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association following the airport's demolition in the spring of 2003.l

AOPA's coverage is excerpted below.  Visit their website at www.aopa.org for the details, including a copy of the City's response to the FAA.

Friends of Meigs ask for calm from supporters,
demand changes in “planning process”

Portage Park, Chicago, IL – A strong turnout of Meigs Field supporters tonight dominated the second Chicago Park District meeting to determine the fate of the demolished airport.

The majority of the group of about 35 people appeared to be supporters of Meigs Field. Many of the rest said they had no objection to returning the important reliever airstrip to Chicago’s lakefront.

From the introductions onward, airport supporters voiced strong support for the concept of a park for Northerly Island that would incorporate an active airstrip as a centerpiece attraction in a mixed-use park/airport/air museum complex for the Museum Campus.

“I’m here to express support for the airport,” said one attendee, “the way it was.”

“I’m here because I’d like to explore a mixed-use vision for the island, with fishing, and sailing and aviation,” said Josh Levy, “And I’d like everyone to know about how the Park District can receive up to $100 million dollars for parks across the city by reopening Meigs Field.”

Contentious discussion

The meeting started to turn contentious when Christopher Gent, the Deputy Director of Planning for the Park District introduced the “visioning” exercise, in which participants were given green (“like”) and yellow (“dislike”) stickers to apply to a collage of photos of possible park elements under consideration.

“Are there examples of mixed-use parks and airports?” asked one attendee. When informed that there were not, several others in attendance expressed anger and disgust.

“This is rigged,” shouted one Meigs supporter. “The fix is in,” said another.

"There are no parks where airstrips are a compatible use."

Baloney!

This is flat out untrue.  There are hundreds if not thousands of airports in the U.S. alone where parks and airports co-exist side by side. 

In the Chicago area alone, Palwaukee Airport is adjacent to the Cook County Forest Preserve, and DuPage Airport is adjacent to a golf course.  Many small airports exist right in state and national parks.  Many more have parks adjacent with observation areas to enjoy the excitement of planes taking off and landing.

Help us prove them wrong!

Send your examples of parks and planes co-existing.  If you have electronic pictures, send them too!

Friends of Meigs outnumber all other groups

Chicago, IL -- On Saturday, November 13, the Chicago Park District finally began planning the park it wants to replace Meigs Field, over a year and a half after the airport's illegal midnight destruction.

In what will be the first of seven public "visioning" sessions, the Park District sought public input on the elements of the park that would replace the famed downtown airport.  Friends of Meigs supporters were the largest single bloc of attendees, outnumbering all other groups represented at the meeting, with over 20 of the 60 or so attendees members or supporters of the Friends of Meigs Field. 

"It was gratifying to see the turnout," said Steve Whitney, president of the Friends of Meigs Field.  "If the Park District really cares about the public's input, their eyes were opened on Saturday."  The Friends of Meigs presented over 13,000 electronic petition signatures, and over 650 well-written letters of support for the Parks and Planes plan.  The plan would include an operating airstrip as one feature in a mixed-use park/airport/air museum attraction for all Chicagoans.

Planning director Arnold Randall tried to maintain a fair appearance in his comments, saying that no idea would be rejected in advance, but actions and statements by the Park District tended to cast doubt on the good faith of the process... 

Thanks to all who participated

Chicago, IL -- During the Meigs planning meeting, there was a constant stream of overflying aircraft, in solidarity with those Friends of Meigs attending the meeting.

We thank those who participated in the flyover, both for standing with us in our efforts to re-open Meigs, and for demonstrating that the closure of Meigs did not prevent aircraft from flying over downtown Chicago, contrary to the false claims made by Mayor Daley when he ordered the midnight destruction, supposedly to prevent terrorism.

In early October, the FAA announced that a year and a half investigation had concluded that the City of Chicago DID in fact violate the law when it closed Meigs Field on the night of March 30-31, 2003 without warning.  Not only did the FAA propose the maximum allowable penalty of a $33,000 fine for failing to give proper notice of the closure, but it also announced a new investigation into the probability that the City improperly used $1.5 million in federal aviation funds for the demolition that should have gone for capital improvements at O'Hare airport.

The FAA gave the City until December 3 to respond to its proposed fines.  If the City is found to have improperly diverted funds, and it refuses to repay the monies, the City could become liable for fines up to triple the amount diverted, or over $4.5 million.

Nice use of tax payer money, huh?

In his letter, entitled "Can't Hide the Travesty," Timble cites the thousands of youngsters who first tasted flight at Meigs in the Young Eagles program, the hundreds of thousands of commuter air passengers, and all of the citizens of Chicago who benefit from the "air and water safety, security and control tower personnel" provided by Meigs Field.

He concludes:

'In truth, the demolition of Meigs Field served the best interest of only one elite individual, Mayor Daley, who engineered its covert destruction, knowing full well that a referendum of Chicago's non-elite citizenry -- its ''common people'' -- would have preserved this much-needed aviation facility for many years to come.'
 

The article, "Will city airports go private?" by Fran Spielman, Mayor Richard Daley says "we're looking at it, but you have to see how [O'Hare] was created--and if there's...any restrictions by the federal government."

The article notes that the FAA prevents any airport sponsor that accepts federal aviation funds from diverting funds from those airports for other, non-airport purposes.  Chicago accepted for O'Hare, Midway and even Meigs Field, although in a politically motivated move, the FAA forgave the Meigs grants in 1996.

You can express your opinions on such questions as:

To voice your opinions, visit

http://www.demolitiondick.com/daleypoll1.html 

PS -- DemolitionDick.com is not affiliated with the Friends of Meigs Field...
but it's sure hard to disagree with some of its views!

A recent article in Time Magazine points this out, reporting that soon the Transportation Security Administration will have the authority to perform more intrusive hand searches.  The article, entitled "A Feel for Airline Security," is accompanied by a photo of a passenger who has been singled out for special screening at O'Hare airport.

How was he selected for special treatment?
We'll never know.

But we hope it wasn't because of his wardrobe!

Click here to read FAA press release.

The agency, in a press release, announced it is proposing the maximum penalty allowed by law for the improper closure of Meigs Field without notice during the night of March 30, 2003.  The fine of $33,000 represents the maximum of $1,100 per day for thirty days.  Federal regulations require 30-day notice of the closure of airports like Meigs.  After Meigs' closure, Congress was so outraged, it passed a law, dubbed "The Meigs Act" increasing the fine to $10,000 per day for future incidents in the U.S.

"This proves we've been correct from the start," said Steve Whitney, president of the Friends of Meigs Field.  "The City closed Meigs illegally and under false pretenses.  They should apologize and make amends." 

While more details need to be disclosed, the FAA's announcement seems to indicate the agency did not find any "emergency" for closing Meigs Field.  Chicago Mayor Richard Daley had cited unspecific fears of "terrorism" for closing Meigs, but in reality has sought for years to close the downtown reliever airport for a city park.

Perhaps more significant than the fines proposed by the FAA, is the announcement that the agency has initiated an investigation into the possible misuse of over $1.5 million in restricted federal aviation funds for the demolition of Meigs Field.  If the City is found to have misused these funds and refuses to repay them, it could be liable for triple damages, or nearly $5 million in fines.

All of the fines proposed would come from city funds.

"We are heartened by today's decision," said Whitney.  "While the findings will not force the re-opening of the airport by themselves, they add credibility and force to our efforts.  We applaud the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for pursuing this complaint so diligently." 

The AOPA initiated the complaint with the FAA against the City of Chicago immediately after the closure last year, and the Friends of Meigs Field provided valuable information about the specifics of the closure, the timeline, and the City's actions.