Editing Meigs Field (section)

== Northerly Island ==
[[File:20070110 Charter One Pavillion Sign.JPG|thumb|right|Charter One Pavilion sign, January 10, 2007]]

{{Main|Northerly Island}}
By August 2003, construction crews had finished the demolition of Meigs Field. Northerly Island is now a park that features prairie grasses, strolling paths and a giant pond. In 2005, the 7,500&nbsp;seat [[Huntington Bank Pavilion]], which hosts music concerts in the summer, opened on the site. The island also has a modest beach named 12th Street Beach.

Other Chicagoans had a different vision for the lakefront area. After the 2003 closure, the Friends of Meigs Field introduced a new plan, "Parks and Planes," which promoted the idea of an aviation museum, small operating runway, and park land on the property. This plan suggested that Chicago could qualify for federal funds earmarked for airport property acquisition to purchase many more acres of parkland in Chicago's neighborhoods and to improve the [[Chicago Park District]]'s maintenance budget.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://friendsofmeigs.org/html/plan/index.htm|title=Parks & Planes plan|work=friendsofmeigs.org|access-date=23 May 2015}}</ref>