By James P. Economos, DDS, Opinion Contributor
Now that we are in the baseball playoff season, I thought it would be a good time to recall when the Chicago Cubs won the world Series in 2016.
When baseball teams are in the playoffs, it creates a lot of economic activity in the host cities where there are games. And airports can play a major role as baseball fans with private jets use local airports to conveniently get to and from the ballpark.
In Cleveland for example, where the Guardians are in the American League Division Series playoffs, the small downtown airport remains jam packed with private planes. Sadly, this could have been Chicago when the Cubs were in the playoffs and then the World Series if Meigs Field was still around.
Recently while watching the Guardians, I called the control tower in Cleveland and asked how many aircraft were parked at the airport. They said about 100 or so and sent me pictures from the tower and ramp.
Meigs Field was a beautiful airport right along Lake Michigan, but on March 30, 2003, then Chicago Mayor Richard Daley criminally destroyed it in the middle of the night by making the runway unusable. To this day, this criminal act remains unprosecuted.
The amount of economic activity airports bring to a region is huge and in my opinion, Meigs’ destruction started the decline of Chicago. Look at how things have gone south since.
Imagine all of the economic activity in Chicago had Meigs Field still been around. And with massive traffic congestion going in and out of downtown – this small airport would have provided a convenient option for anyone with a private plane.
But in Chicago, nothing makes sense anymore.
