Editing Meigs Field (section)

=== Construction ===
[[File:Burnham 1909 chicago plan.jpg|thumb|Burnham's Plan of Chicago (1909). North is to the right.|alt=|left]]

[[Northerly Island]], owned by the [[Chicago Park District]], is the only lakefront structure to be built based on [[Daniel Burnham]]'s 1909 [[Plan of Chicago]]. The Plan of Chicago had no provision for air service. The island was to be populated by trees and grass for the public enjoyment by all. Northerly Island was also the site of the [[Century of Progress]] (1933–34) in Chicago. Chicago's first airplane flight took place in 1910 in [[Grant Park (Chicago)|Grant Park]], adjacent to Northerly Island, with an international aeronautical exhibition at the same location in 1911. Then, in 1918, regular air mail service to Grant Park began. Nonetheless, Grant Park was unsuitable for the city's growing aviation needs.

Burnham died in 1912. By 1916, [[Edward H. Bennett]], co-author of the Plan of Chicago, wrote that a lakefront location would be most suitable for an airport serving the central business district. In 1920, Chicagoans approved a bond referendum to pay for landfill construction of the peninsula, and in 1922 construction began.<ref name=airfields>{{cite web|url=https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/IL/Airfields_IL_Chicago_C.htm#meigs|title=Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Illinois: Central Chicago area|work=airfields-freeman.com|access-date=23 May 2015}}</ref> That same year Mayor [[William Hale Thompson]] recommended locating the downtown airport there. A few years later the Chicago South Park Commission voted in agreement. In 1928, the Chicago Association of Commerce, representing the business community, also advocated for the lakefront airport.<ref name=airfields />

The [[Great Depression]] put numerous civic plans on hold, including the airport. Construction continued on the peninsula itself, with the [[1933 World's Fair]] occupying the just-completed peninsula. In the 1930s, the Chicago City Council and Illinois State Legislature passed resolutions to create the airport, but both the poor economy and World War II intervened.<ref name=airfields />