State, Feds Disagree on Cemetery in Path of O'Hare Airport Proposed Runway

CHICAGO - A cemetery in the path of a proposed new runway for O'Hare International Airport is old.

But is it historic?

That's a matter of dispute between federal and state agencies. The National Park Service has said St. Johannes Cemetery belongs on the National Register of Historic Places.

But the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency wants the federal agency to reconsider putting the graveyard on the list.

Adding the cemetery to the register could lead to time-consuming petitions to get other Illinois cemeteries deemed historic, said state historic preservation officer Bill Wheeler. He said he has no desire to make the issue political.

"If it's political, no one has called me about it, which would mean that I'd be making it political, which is the last thing I would want to do, believe me," Wheeler said.

No matter what happens, the Federal Aviation Administration still could approve building the new O'Hare runway and possibly relocate the cemetery and its more than 1,000 graves dating back to the 1840s.

German immigrants who helped settle DuPage County found their final rest in the cemetery. Bob Sell, who has ancestors buried there, questions the state's stance.

"As the state agency that is supposed to be about preservation, why would they be looking to advocate on behalf of destruction?" Sell asked.