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Park Set to Open on Former Meigs Field Site

** Meigs Field (Photo courtesy of Marge Beaver)**
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Key Takeaways:

  • Meigs Field, the former lakefront airport in downtown Chicago, has been permanently replaced by Northerly Island Park and will not reopen.
  • The new park, featuring a lagoon and walking paths, is celebrating its opening more than 12 years after the airport's illegal demolition.
  • The transformation cost $9.7 million, largely funded by federal tax dollars initially allocated for "Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration."
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If you’re one of the thousands of people who has held out hope for a reopening of Meigs Field, the beautiful lakefront airport that was conveniently located on Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago, we’re sad to announce that there will likely never again be an airport on Northerly Island. The city of Chicago is holding an opening ceremony for Northerly Island Park on Friday, more than 12 years after bulldozers dug up the runway at Meigs.

A 5-acre lagoon now cuts through the center of the peninsula where airplanes used to land on Meigs’ 3,900-foot-long runway. A walking/biking path winds around several hills that have been contoured into the formerly flat open fields.

Pia Bergqvist

Pia Bergqvist joined FLYING in December 2010. A passionate aviator, Pia started flying in 1999 and quickly obtained her single- and multi-engine commercial, instrument and instructor ratings. After a decade of working in general aviation, Pia has accumulated almost 3,000 hours of flight time in nearly 40 different types of aircraft.

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