Mayor Daley’s argument that he shuttered Meigs Field out of post-9/11 security concerns never seemed credible

As concert-goers stream onto Northerly Island this weekend to catch a show by the South Side’s own Chief Keef at an outdoor theater, they may not realize there used to be a different type of buzz there: Of planes taking off and landing at a little airport called Meigs Field.

But Chicagoans of a certain age may recall its controversy: The general aviation airfield, with a single runway and a stubby control tower, occupied the artificial island starting in the late 1940s, ultimately catering to aviation enthusiasts, along with business and government types gaining easy access — via jets, prop planes and choppers — to the Loop.

At least until 2003…

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