6 thoughts on the potential closure & redevelopment of Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport
/We’ll admit. When we first heard the drums beating louder for the proposed closure and potential redevelopment of Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport, we thought “Oh here we go - Cleveland’s latest example of shiny object syndrome”.
As a region Greater Cleveland has barely digested the in-process move of the Cleveland Browns from the edge of Lake Erie to a pit that began being dug Monday for the future Brook Park Barn.
Burke Lakefront Airport opened in 1947. The below image of the stadium during the 1936 Cleveland Exposition shows the lakefront before dredging and fill were used to create the land mass for Burke Lakefront Airport.
Browns stadiumCleveland Exposition_1936
Central News Company, 1960
cleveland state university library, 1947
Early reports note an online community survey by the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation asking for public feedback on the future of Burke Lakefront Airport, has received nearly 2000 responses. While it’s encouraging to see the public excitement for unlocking the potential of Cleveland’s lakefront, we offer several sobering thoughts to fuel the public conversation.
After you’ve considered the below ideas, tune in to Ideastream’s Sound of Ideas - Community Tour Future of Burke Lakefront Airport forum tonight (March 4, 2026) at 6 p.m. (update: Ideastream Sound of Ideas replay - YouTube)
1) Years ago during a meeting with a downtown Cleveland property owner, he shared “Instead of getting rid of Burke, why don’t they try making it better?”
According to a WEWS report. aviation-related businesses are willing to invest at Burke, but they are unable to secure long-term leases or assurances about the future from City Hall.
A 2.4.26 cleveland.com article noted “Burke’s deficit, an average of $900,000 annually.” “Burke and Hopkins airports exist in an enterprise fund, completely separate from the general fund budget that pays for city services like trash pickup and police officers. Revenues cover 69% of both airports’ operating costs and the major airlines pay the difference. Those major airlines don’t use Burke, though, and are largely subsidizing it. Meaning the city’s general fund is insulated from Burke’s performance.”
General Aviation News wrote “Airport operators told the mayor’s staff they have millions to invest at the airport but will not do so unless they can reasonably expect a return on that investment.”
The lack of long-term lease availability handcuffs private business from making investments in their Burke Lakefront Airport operations, so is it a surprise when the airport languishes and runs a deficit?
2) Look beneath the surface! Cleveland Historical’s article reminds us Burke Lakefront Airport is “the landfill airport” filled with hundreds of tons of dirt dredgings from the Cuyahoga River along with unregulated waste, including household, municipal, and commercial landfill.
Potential remediation expenses on top of required infrastructure, ground lease, and construction costs would potentially be so steep a developer would need to seek significant public subsidies for their project.
3) Burke Lakefront Airport is the home for sediment management & processing. The first round of Cleveland City Council’s City Council Transportation and Mobility Committee Burke Lakefront hearings, chaired by Councilman Charles Slife, was on January 21, 2026. Councilman Brian Kazy asked questions about the airport property with regards to the Port of Cleveland’s Sediment Processing and Management Facility. It is the only facility permitted to receive the 250,000 cubic yards of sediment dredged each year from the Cleveland Harbor and Cuyahoga River, an action which keeps shipping lanes open. At the facility, the Port beneficially harvests and recycles much of the dredge material.
The Sediment Processing and Management Facility is a key component of Cleveland Metroparks’ CHEERS project — the Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Strategy — is, a bold initiative to reshape Cleveland’s East Side waterfront. The 80 acre project will repurpose sediment dredged from the Cuyahoga River to create a resilient shoreline that protects vital infrastructure while expanding public access to Lake Erie.
For background on Cuyahoga River dredging & disposal, read our 2016 blog post!
4) Can Cleveland simply get the Browns lakefront stadium site done right BEFORE it makes any NEW plans for the airport property just east? Has our region learned little from the 2015 findings of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Fund for our Economic Future who each drew attention to job access, or the ability to reach jobs within a typical commute distance or time, particularly for residents in economically distressed neighborhoods in Northeast Ohio.
Sprawl has done Greater Cleveland no favors - it is balkanized, with nearly 400 municipal entities and 700 different taxing units. Will our region repeat the mistakes of the past as it chases the promise of the proposed Burke Lakefront Airport redevelopment project?
Bedrock’s in-process The Riverfront Cleveland is a “35-acre mixed-use development reshaping the city’s downtown area along the Cuyahoga River. The multi-phase project, anchored by the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, will introduce over 3.5 million square feet of commercial, retail, entertainment and residential space, including more than 2,000 residential units and 1.4 million square feet of commercial and retail development.” That’s a lot of development for Cleveland’s waterfront to digest.
Does Cleveland have the commercial demand that can sustainably support the closure and redevelopment of Burke Lakefront Airport?
On a related note, we are fans of the Cleveland Foundation’s site readiness endowment fund that provides a logical solution to sprawl by “reclaiming and remediating brownfield sites, preparing land for new industries, attract jobs and spark growth in neighborhoods long affected by disinvestment.”
5) Does Burke Lakefront Airport’s status have to be an all or nothing decision? Would one runway suffice, providing room for publicly accessible greenspace along the lakefront? (and yes, the existing break-wall kills the “infinity pool” sightline of Lake Erie).
What other airports serve as potential models?
Detroit’s Coleman A Young Municipal Airport
Cincinnati’s Lunken Airport
Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport
6) The wonder of flight. How many Argonaut and Davis Aerospace Maritime High School students have observed Burke Lakefront Airport operations and the Cleveland National Air Show and dreamed how they could be part of it? Ohio calls itself the birthplace of aviation. It would be unfortunate to lose that local connection to Ohio’s aviation heritage.
