Editing Meigs Field (section)

{{Short description|Chicago airport (1948–2003)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox airport
|name=Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport
|image=Meigs field USGS 2002.jpg
|caption=Meigs Field Airport alongside Burnham Harbor in 2002, a year before its demolition
|ICAO={{strikethrough color|KCGX}}
|FAA={{strikethrough color|CGX}}
|coordinates={{coord|41|51|36|N|087|36|31|W|region:US-IL_type:airport|display=title,inline}}
|opened={{start date|1948|12|10}}
|closed={{end date|2003|03|30}}
|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]
|mapframe=yes
|type=Public
}}

'''Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport''' (pronounced {{IPA|/mɛgz/}}, formerly {{Airport codes||KCGX|CGX|p=n}}) was a single-runway [[airport]] in [[Chicago]], named for newspaper publisher and aviation enthusiast [[Merrill C. Meigs]]. It was located on [[Northerly Island]], an artificial peninsula in [[Lake Michigan]], and was operational from 1948 to 2003.

Constructed to accommodate demand for [[general aviation]] following World War II, Meigs Field also served regional [[Commercial aviation|commercial air travel]]. With its proximity to [[Chicago Loop|downtown Chicago]], it quickly became the busiest single-strip airport in the United States,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sutter |first=Lexi |last2=Staff • • |first2=NBC Chicago |date=2024-07-29 |title=What has become of Chicago's Meigs Field - the lakefront airport suddenly destroyed 21 years ago? |url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/what-has-become-of-chicagos-meigs-field-the-lakefront-airport-suddenly-destroyed-21-years-ago/3504460/ |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=NBC Chicago |language=en-US}}</ref> adding an air traffic tower in 1952, and a terminal in 1961. It became widely familiar when it was featured as the default airport in early versions of the ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator]]'' software. Seeking to repurpose the land as a park, mayor [[Richard M. Daley]] forced its abrupt closure in 2003 by ordering the overnight destruction of its runway.