 In 1994, Mayor Richard M. Daley announced plans to close the airport and build a park in its place.Northerly Island, where the airport was located, was owned by the Chicago Park District, which refused to renew the airport lease in 1996.The city briefly closed the airport from the expiration of the lease in October 1996 through February 1997 when pressure from the state legislature persuaded them to reopen the airport.