There is talk about closing City Airport and using the rather large piece of land for some other purpose.

This is not the first time folks have talked about closing the airport, which has been serving the city of Detroit since the 1920s. What is now called Coleman A. Young International Airport has been a fixture in our city.

It is a valuable asset that should be nourished, not abandoned.

There are lots of cities that have an airport that primarily serves the business community such as Cleveland's Burke Lakefront.

One exception is Chicago's Meigs Field, where Mayor Richard Daley bulldozed the runways in the dark of night. The airport has remained abandoned since then. The rumors of a casino on that site have seemed to be wrong, and the mayor's dream, luckily, is dormant for now.

City Airport has had a couple of feeble attempts to host a commercial carrier out of the airport, but it simply never caught on.

The airport is a great magnet for corporations interested in locating in Detroit or doing business in our city. Whenever there is business activity in our city, like the North American International Auto Show or SAE, there seem to be quite a lot of visitors' airplanes parked at City Airport.

As our business community grows, the airport can become even more of an asset. Somehow I cannot imagine our mayor giving all the economic growth to Oakland County and its airport in Waterford Township.

I have no idea what the present and potential economic benefit is for the city, but it would seem reckless to abandon such an asset that could never be replaced.

It seems hard to believe that this city is looking for large pieces of land. I always understood that there was plenty of land available; we were lacking the need on the part of someone who might like to build a huge manufacturing facility. We are still looking, and I am sure that we haven't lost a factory because of a lack of land.

I will be the first to admit that I am a pilot, although retired, and we've had an airplane at City Airport for at least a couple of decades. Having the airport close to downtown has given us a great reason to stay in Detroit. If there had been no City Airport, I wouldn't have been surprised to see our company move out to Oakland County many years ago.

City Airport is a unique and valuable asset for economic growth. To even consider closing it would be foolhardy. It deserves to be kept open, nurtured and promoted.