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Chicago gets cemetery land for new runway

By: Jerry LimoneFebruary 09, 2010

The city of Chicago on Monday was awarded possession of a five-acre plot that has been a cemetery for the past 161 years. The land will be used to complete a new runway at O’Hare Airport.

The cemetery lies between two segments of a runway already under construction.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the relocation of 1,200 graves could begin within weeks. According to the newspaper, the city will work with next of kin to have graves moved and will pay the relocation costs.

DuPage County Judge Hollis Webster ordered that the city pay the cemetery owner, St. John's United Church of Christ, $630,000 for the land.

Webster ruled in December that Chicago had a legal right to use eminent domain proceedings to acquire the site from the church, which has argued against the city's plan, reported the Tribune.

City officials said the current schedule calls for the graves to be moved by spring 2011, enabling the new runway to be finished and opened by June 2013, said the Tribune.

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#11February 17, 2010
creepy. landing on a haunted runway could lead to "mysterious" malfunctions and troubles!
#10February 11, 2010
It is all in how one perceives things. How can one rest in peace between two runways. Being relocated, I think they would be the Grateful Dead. After 161 years a breath of fresh air would seem welcome. The dead are not complaining, the living is. We have tourism to fit nearly every need, now we include travel for the deceased. #2 thinks it is a bad idea. Tombstones, granite boulders, and wrought iron spears next to a runway are not either. Having to move cemeteries makes one review the merits of cremation. If there is a down side, St Johns' now has the problem of deciding what to do with the proceeds of the unexpected and forced land sale.
#9February 10, 2010
To#4: Savannah Airport has graves & I understand families ARE allowed to visit. Wikipedia:"3,680 feet from the west end of Runway 10 (the main east-west runway) are two concrete grave markers. A runway extension project placed the runway through a small family plot and the graves of the airport property's two original owners. Because the family did not want to remove/relocate the graves, markers were placed in the asphalt runway. Runway 10 is thought to be the only airport runway in the US with marked gravestones in it. Federal law generally prohibits moving of a grave without permission of next of kin. In this case, 2 graves of the Dotson Family, the earliest grave dating back to 1857, were found during the construction of the runway. Since next of kin could not be located, the graves were left undisturbed. Two additional graves are located off the runway surface." So, it CAN be done.
#8February 10, 2010
Another government grab in the name of "eminent domain". What an insult to these families. The other insult is the amount they want to pay for this land. Chicago will also lose some voters.
#7February 10, 2010
It's OK with me and if #1 doesn't want to fly through O'Hare, I certainly understand. Perhaps the windfall to the church can be used to help the congregation and the living. While ideally this wouldn't be necessary, the safety of tens of millions of travelers is at stake.
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