CLEVELAND, OH — Cleveland City Council member Michael Polensek is calling for council hearings on the future of Burke Lakefront Airport, warning that Mayor Justin Bibb is attempting to close the airport through neglect and disinvestment.
Polensek outlined his concerns in a letter to the council president, urging colleagues to schedule hearings to find ways to transform the downtown airport into a source of jobs and opportunity for the city.
"I'm seeing things that concern me greatly, and I'm living quite frankly in a world I do not understand here. And if we do not make common sense decisions, then shame on all of us," Polensek said.
The Bibb administration has described Burke as an "underutilized public asset" that has lost money for years.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and Ohio's U.S. senators have said they will not support closing the airport.
A Bibb administration spokesperson said no one was available for an interview and had not issued a statement addressing Polensek's concerns.
Burke Lakefront Airport has been home to the Cleveland International Airshow since 1964.
For longtime airshow attendee Matthew Orr, the prospect of losing the airport is personal.
"I think Cleveland needs the airport. It's been a part of Cleveland for as long as I can remember," Orr said.
Orr has attended the airshow for more than 20 years and said he has no plans to stop.
"Hope it stays," Orr said.
But he made clear what a closure would mean for him.
"If Burke was to close and no more airshow, I wouldn't come downtown. There'd be no point for me. At all," Orr said.
Polensek echoed that sense of urgency.
"I don't know about anybody else, but I don't like losing and we're losing too much in the city," Polensek said.
The airport sits on 450 acres along Lake Erie. Mayor Bibb has previously discussed redeveloping that land, though no formal plan has been announced.
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