Tag: Meigs Field

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Yet Another New Life for Chicago's Old Waterfront Airport

August 3, 2012 at 1:10 PM | by | Comments (2)

If you're old enough or just Chicago enough, you'll have heard of the saga of Chicago's Meigs Field/Northerly Island. In 1933, this bit of land that jutted out from downtown Chicago was made the center of the World's Fair. In 1948, the land became the single runway airport Meigs Field, which was controversially closed for good in 2003 when Chicago's mayor Daley tore up the runways in the middle of the night, with the aim of making it a park according to the 1909 plan of Chicago's city planner, Daniel Burnham.

We last visited the finished park in spring 2010, enjoying a leisurely stroll on paths surrounded by prairie grass, where once was a runway. We even peeked into the closed '60s-era terminal that still stands. Well, it turns out that isn't the finished product at all, as Chicago has even more ambitious plans for the manmade island-turned airport-turned park.

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Jog Around an Abandoned Airport in Downtown Chicago

Where: 1400 S. Lynn White Drive [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60605
April 27, 2010 at 9:00 AM | by | Comments (2)

One of the coolest, most unique things you can do in Chicago is to walk or bike or jog out onto the runways of a former airport situated downtown, right on Lake Michigan. The runways might be grass now, but it wasn't too long ago they were tarmac and landing jets, and the old control tower and 1960s terminal building still stand to prove it. This area is a park called Northerly Island, the former Meigs Field Airport, which has a dramatic historical past and a sunny future.

In 1933, this bit of land that jutted out from downtown Chicago was made the center of the World's Fair; if you've read Devil in the White City, you'll know where we're talking about. In 1948, the land became the single runway airport Meigs Field, which was controversially closed for good in 2003 when Chicago's mayor Daley tore up the runways in the middle of the night, with the aim of making it a park according to the 1909 plan of Chicago's city planner, Daniel Burnham.

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