Story ID: 
Chicago Settles with FAA over Meigs Destruction
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: The City of Chicago settled FAA enforcement action that arose after it bulldozed Meigs Field’s runway on March 30, 2003.
Word Count: 141
The City of Chicago settled FAA enforcement action that arose after it bulldozed Meigs Field’s runway on March 30, 2003. The city agreed to pay $33,000, assessed for failure to provide advance notice of changes to the airport, although under terms of the settlement the city admits no violation. The FAA also accused the city of using $3 million of O’Hare and Midway Airport funds to pay for closing and revamping Meigs for non-airport use, a violation of federal law and Airport Improvement Program grant assurances. The city agreed to pay $1 million to the O’Hare Airport Development Fund and limit money spent at Meigs to costs for returning the property to pre-airport condition. Friends of Meigs Field, which had long battled the city’s plans to close the airport, recommends that the land be turned into “lakefront parkland and an operating airport.”