Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport | |
|---|---|
 Meigs Field Airport alongside Burnham Harbor in 2002, a year before its demolition | |
| Summary | |
| Airport type | Public |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Opened | December 10, 1948 |
| Closed | March 30, 2003 |
| Coordinates | 41°51′36″N 087°36′31″W / 41.86000°N 87.60861°W |
| Map | |
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Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport (pronounced /mɛgz/, formerly ICAO: KCGX, FAA LID: CGX) was a single-runway airport in Chicago that was in operation from 1948 to 2003, when it was bulldozed overnight by then-mayor Richard M. Daley. The airport was located on Northerly Island, an artificial peninsula on Lake Michigan adjacent to downtown Chicago, the second-largest business district in the Western Hemisphere[citation needed]. By 1955, Meigs Field had become the busiest single-strip airport in the United States. The airport was a familiar sight on the downtown lakefront. The latest air traffic tower was built in 1952, and the terminal was dedicated in 1961. The airfield was named for Merrill C. Meigs.
Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley forced the closing of Meigs Field in 2003 by ordering the overnight bulldozing of its runway without notice, in violation of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.