Going Home

04/16/09 08:03:01 pm, by Kevin St. George
Categories: Dobel Street, Metro Detroit, City Airport

Friends of City Airport

This Saturday I had the opportunity to sit down with Beverly Kindle-Walker, the executive director of Friends of City Airport. I found out that at the core, Friends of Fletcher Field and Friends of City Airport have a lot in common.

Friends of City Airport was started in the early 1990s to combat the anti-airport political groups that were growing in Warren and the Grosse Pointes. Today, the organization's focus has shifted to getting community children involved with the airport in the hopes of captivating imaginations and getting them to think about the possibilities in their future.

Kindle-Walker also told me that that as a group the group does not necessarily support the expansion of the airport. She views the airport as a good enough point-to-point for private aircraft and general aviation. The group is not be opposed to the reopening of Six Mile, either; she even recognizes it as something that should have been done some time ago.

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But she said: "I don't understand why anyone would want to have the airport closed."

I explained to her that although there are people who have supported the idea before, because of they sheer amount of money that it would cost the city to close the airport, that there isn't very much risk of that happening.

I also explained that many opponents don't have a problem with the airport itself, rather it's the limbo created in the surrounding communities because of the airport's long-standing expansion plan that never has materialized.

She said that while some politicians have shown interest in finally dealing with the airport and the area's problems, none have made it an issue they are willing to fight for.

Before I left she told me that she was running for city council. I can say, having sat down with her, that I am impressed. Because I know nothing of her other policies or views, I can't say that I would endorse her, but she does seem like someone who cares about City Airport and might be willing to fight for stability in the area.

On the way home I couldn't help but think that it should come as no surprise that Friends of City Airport is looking to kindle the aspiration of flight in the local kids. It serves as another reminder that children are not only our future, but also our motivation and hope that unites us regardless of place or political view.

Kevin St. George is a senior at Michigan State University, where he’s studying journalism. As part of a tandem program -- a community journalism partnership that includes The Detroit News and the MSU School of Journalism -- Kevin has been assigned to work in the neighborhood around Fletcher Field this semester.

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