What’s Best for Burke Lakefront Airport? Greater Clevelanders Pan Idea To Make It a Park

CLEVELAND, Ohio – As Cleveland considers what to do with Burke Lakefront Airport, most Greater Clevelanders say the airport should be kept open.

In a poll conducted between Oct. 7 and Oct. 18, 54.2% of the respondents said the airport should either “definitely” or “probably” be kept open.

When asked what Cleveland should do with the airport property – keeping it as an airport with some changes or closing it for other uses – 53.8% said Burke Lakefront Airport should remain, and Cleveland should work on expanding its usage.

The option that garnered the least support: Closing the airport and redeveloping the land as a park.

A long-debated topic

The questions about Burke were part of a survey of 504 people that cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer commissioned, working with Baldwin Wallace University’s Community Research Institute. Participants from Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit counties were asked about many state and local topics.

The margin of error for the poll is 4.7%.

The future of Burke has been debated for decades. The airport, which has operated since 1947, sits on about 450 acres of prime lakefront real estate, just east of downtown. It serves as a reliever airport to the much larger Cleveland Hopkins, about 14 miles away. Many businesses, including the region’s hospitals, rely on the airport’s easy access and convenient location.

Those who would like it closed argue the land would be better used to improve access to the lake, benefiting all the public.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb has identified lakefront access and usage as a priority of his administration. A key part of that discussion will be what happens with Burke.

Earlier this year, the city asked Cleveland-based CHA Consultants to amend an existing contract studying Burke to also look at what would be involved – through an aviation and regulatory perspective – in closing the lakefront airport. The CHA study is expected to be complete in early 2023.

This administration announced this month it will hire a consultant to study the airport’s current economic impact on Cleveland and the potential economic impacts of closing the airport and instead using the land for a range of possibilities, from development of the property for housing and businesses to creating new park land.

“By conducting a thorough economic impact analysis, we can make data-informed, thoughtful decisions to ensure best use of our lakefront property,” Bibb said when the initiative was announced.

The Greater Cleveland Partnership, the largest metropolitan chamber of commerce in the United States with more than 12,000 members, cheered the initiative.

“We applaud the city for initiating a holistic examination of Burke Lakefront Airport,” a statement from GCP said. The examination will provide an important assessment of Burke’s value as an airport and consider the value of other options for development or community use, GCP said.

Proposals to the city are due early in December. The administration also scheduled several meetings to gather public input on connecting people with the waterfront.

Support for keeping Burke open

Cleveland.com’s poll with Baldwin Wallace University asked people if the airport should remain open or be closed. Respondents also were allowed to say if they were unsure.

Overall, 54.2% said Burke should either definitely or probably remain open, compared to just 26.5% who thought it should definitely or probably close. Those who were unsure tallied to 19.3%.

Those answers were consistent, regardless of age, income, education and race.

Among those age 49 and younger, 53.7% favored keeping the airport open. Among those aged 65 and older, that support was 56.2%.

When the answers were broken down by income or on whether a respondent had a college degree, they were all within about two points of the overall averages.

Among white respondents, 56.8% said keep the airport open while 26.5% said it should close. Among respondents who are Black, 44.9% favored keeping it open, while 28.4% said it should close, and 26.6% were unsure.

Respondents who said they were Republican were more likely to favor keeping Burke open than those who said they were Democrat – 64% to 50.3%.

Similarly, those who viewed themselves as conservative felt more strongly about keeping the airport open (61.7%) than those who identified as moderate (51.8%) or liberal (49.7%).

Suggestions for change

Those polled also were asked about how Cleveland should use the airport property. Three options involved keeping the airport open and either expanding it, adding a small park area for public use or opening a restaurant. Three options involved closing the airport and either redeveloping the property to include restaurants, redeveloping the land as a park and finding ways to avoid using new tax dollars to repay the FAA.

Respondents could support more than one option.

Expanding the airport was supported by 53.8%. Adding a small park was chosen by 27.5%. Adding a restaurant was chosen by 23.9%.

None of the options that involved closing the airport were supported by more than 12.5% of respondents.

Closing the airport and redeveloping the land as a park received the least support at just 11.7%.

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