A Smith Field advocate is once again seeking local historic preservation status for the north-side airfield.
During the public comment of Tuesdays City Council meeting, Joe Tocci, representing a nonprofit group called SMDfund, told council that Smith Field will come before the Fort Wayne Historic Preservation Review Board on Aug. 29.
Opened in 1925, Smith Field was Fort Waynes first municipal airport. It sits on 250 acres in the northwest quadrant of Fort Wayne between Cook and Ludwig roads, and Lima and Coldwater roads.
The airport already is on national and state historic registries, but those designations offer little protection. However as a local historic district, external changes at Smith Field like demolition or changes to runways and buildings would require approval by the review board. The board will make a recommendation for or against the local designation, and City Council has the final say.
In 2003, City Council overturned the review boards recommendation to give Smith Field historic status. Tocci tried again later that year, but the local Historic Preservation Review Board refused to process that petition. Since then, the original petition has been revised to address the boards objections.
A July 21 letter from SMDfund to the Historic Preservation Review Board states the runways are the oldest known runways in America that are still operating in their original configuration and construction.
The letter, signed by Tocci and Ken Russell, also suggests Smith Field could attract tourists to come feel where America has been on our way to the present.
In recent years, Smith Field has been the center of controversy. The Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority voted to close the airport in 2002 before a powerful citizen campaign helped pressure the board to overturn its own decision less than a year later. In April the authority voted to keep Smith Field open indefinitely. The authority recently hired Tim ODonnell to supervise the airport.
Last week, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against a lawsuit filed in 2003 by SMDfund, which is named after the identifier for Smith Field. The lawsuit claimed the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority is illegal because it was created by unconstitutional special legislation.
The justices ruled on narrow grounds, saying it was unfair for the plaintiffs to wait 17 years before challenging the 1985 law that created the airport authority.
The unanimous ruling upheld a lower court decision dismissing the lawsuit on procedural grounds.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press
