For decades, Clevelanders have debated whether it makes sense to fence off 1.5 miles of the city’s lakefront for an airport. So it’s good to hear the news that city officials are now open to discussing alternative futures for Burke Lakefront Airport and its 450 acres of prime lakefront land.
In 2002, the environmental group EcoCity Cleveland commissioned several studies to inform lakefront planning at the time. One of the studies — Burke Lakefront Airport: A report on its history, its current status, and its future — is essential reading for everyone discussing Burke today. The report provides a detailed history and analysis of Burke, its legal status, environmental conditions, financial structure, impact on the Cleveland economy, and potential alternative uses.
While specifics have changed in the past 20 years, the conclusions reached by EcoCity Cleveland in 2002 are still valid:
Burke Lakefront Airport is of limited benefit to the city and is not a vital amenity for the downtown office market.
Burke’s flight operations (which include a lot of practice take-offs and landings for flight school planes) probably can be distributed to other reliever airports in the region so commercial airlines at Hopkins Airport will not be disrupted.
The question about whether the FAA will allow Burke to be closed is really a political issue and a matter of making adjustments to other reliever airports in the regional air system.
Ultimately the biggest question is not whether Burke can be closed but what better use can replace it. If a park, would open greenspace in that location be well used? If a mix of public greenspace and development, what kind of structures can be built on the fill that underlies much of Burke? And will the costs of development at that site lead to luxury developments that will not be affordable for most Cleveland residents?
We can reclaim our lakefront!