Jim Burns wrote:
Hey, what ever happened to the plan to build one at Peotone? It's been ages
since I heard that mentioned.
Jim

Don't you guys use Google ??
Finally, some private sector "free enterprise" entrepenuers:

"The Illinois Department of Transportation's plans for an airport near
Peotone might be in limbo, but that isn't stopping a south suburban
businessman from trying to build an airport of his own on the same
property.
James Bult wants to open Bult Field, a one-mile airstrip capable of
accommodating corporate jets amid the farms in eastern Will County.

Bult Field would not be unlike the dozens of other private airports
scattered around the Chicago area - except it would be in the
footprint of IDOT's south suburban airport.
The development is piquing the curiosity of neighbors, who cannot
understand why Bult would sink millions of dollars into land that will
be plowed under if IDOT ever builds its airport.

"It is bizarre," said Barbara Gaffney, who lives nearby in
unincorporated Monee.
A hearing Tuesday for the Bult Field proposal was postponed by the Will
County Planning and Zoning Commission until April 4.
Brian Radner, a planner with the county's Land Use Department, said the
matter likely will be postponed for a couple of months to determine if
Bult violated building codes by starting work on the runway before the
project was approved.

Last week, construction equipment and piles of fresh dirt surrounded
the path of a new landing strip parallel to Offner Road, between Kedzie
and Western avenues.
"We want to make sure everything is in compliance," Radner said.
Bult hung up on a phone call seeking comment. He did not respond to
messages left at his home and business.
In an application filed with the county, however, Bult seeks to
substantially upgrade the old Sanger Airport, a general aviation
airport that opened in the 1950s.

The dilapidated hangars of the old airport would be replaced with new
buildings and an office.
The old runway would be rebuilt, almost doubling in size to 5,000 feet,
with a concrete surface 7 inches thick.

Bult's application with the county states he wants a runway suitable
for handling his new Cessna jet, due to arrive in 2008.
Because Bult Field would continue the operations of an existing
airport, it
does not require additional approval from IDOT's division of
aeronautics or the Federal Aviation Administration.

Matt Vanover, an IDOT spokesman, said there is nothing that can be done
to stop the project, despite its location in an area targeted by the
state for a commercial airport with one runway and a six-gate terminal.
The FAA has yet to approve IDOT's airport.
"We have had a number of discussions with Mr. Bult. He is well aware
that we are building an airport," Vanover said. "It is his property. It
is his to do what he wants with it."
Vanover said Bult Field eventually "could be incorporated" into a
larger airport. He declined to elaborate.
Vanover also said the state might consider buying the property from
Bult."

Big Ups to Mr Bult....JG