Loyola Sells Donated Land to State of Illinois for Peotone Airport
By Ann Baskerville
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation's South Suburban Airport Land Acquisition webpage, Loyola University Chicago has sold 90.72 acres to the State of Illinois for the Peotone Airport. The parcel is located at Egyptian Trail and West Eagle Lake Road and was sold for $900,000.
The land was donated to Loyola by the late Mary and Anthony Rudis, well-known conservationists and airport opponents who were some of the largest landowners in the Airport Footprint. As this 2004 Chicago Tribune article discusses, Mr. and Mrs. Rudis donated the land without restrictions on its use.
Will County News contacted Loyola for comment on the decision to sell the land and received the following response from Steve Christensen, Communications Director for Loyola:
"When the University was originally notified of this bequest, we considered using the land for an ecology station. Since that time, the University acquired nearly 100 acres in Woodstock, Illinois (home to our Retreat and Ecology Campus), that is more suitable for this use, as it includes rare acres of wetland and numerous species of trees. Therefore, upon the death of Mr. Rudis, the University made the decision to liquidate the land to the State with proceeds committed to the construction of the Quinlan School of Business's new building (John and Kathy Schreiber Center) on our Water Tower Campus."
Maps of Peotone Airport--also known as the South Suburban Airport--boundaries and land purchases:
For an updated Peotone Airport Land Purchased Map, go here.
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation's South Suburban Airport Land Acquisition webpage, Loyola University Chicago has sold 90.72 acres to the State of Illinois for the Peotone Airport. The parcel is located at Egyptian Trail and West Eagle Lake Road and was sold for $900,000.
The land was donated to Loyola by the late Mary and Anthony Rudis, well-known conservationists and airport opponents who were some of the largest landowners in the Airport Footprint. As this 2004 Chicago Tribune article discusses, Mr. and Mrs. Rudis donated the land without restrictions on its use.
Will County News contacted Loyola for comment on the decision to sell the land and received the following response from Steve Christensen, Communications Director for Loyola:
"When the University was originally notified of this bequest, we considered using the land for an ecology station. Since that time, the University acquired nearly 100 acres in Woodstock, Illinois (home to our Retreat and Ecology Campus), that is more suitable for this use, as it includes rare acres of wetland and numerous species of trees. Therefore, upon the death of Mr. Rudis, the University made the decision to liquidate the land to the State with proceeds committed to the construction of the Quinlan School of Business's new building (John and Kathy Schreiber Center) on our Water Tower Campus."
Maps of Peotone Airport--also known as the South Suburban Airport--boundaries and land purchases:
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| Map of Peotone Airport--aka South Suburban Airport--land purchased by the State of Illinois, early 2014 |
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| Illinois Department of Transportation South Suburban Land Acquisition Status Map 2012 |
