Burke Lakefront Airport named after HC alumnus

A few days ago, for some reason, I was looking up a listing of the mayors of Cleveland and noticed that The Honorable Thomas Aloysius Burke, Jr., had a Wikipedia entry indicating he attended "Holy Cross University." Backchecking on the Holy Cross alumni online community, I found that Burke was indeed one of our alumni of the class of 1920 at the College of the Holy Cross, and that his wife was Mrs. Evelyn Burke.

Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL), the sixth busiest airport in the state of Ohio, was named after him; it opened in 1947. Here, below, are a few notes from the city planning commission regarding the lakefront plans Burke set in motion. As a side note, the Cleveland Port Director when the Air Shows began at BKL back in 1964 was Captain Noel C. Painchaud, USNR (R), also an alumnus of the College of the Holy Cross, class of 1954. Hoya.

1947

Burke Lakefront Airport opened as Cleveland’s second municipally-owned airport with a 3,600-foot dirt runway and a small operations facility.

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1952

The Lakeland Freeway (now I-90) was constructed through Gordon Park, almost destroying it.

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1954

The Cleveland Aquarium opened at Gordon Park south of I-90.   Operated by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the City of Cleveland, the Aquarium housed freshwater and marine exhibits in a building originally constructed as a bath house.   A major expansion in 1967 tripled the Aquarium’s size giving it a capacity of 82,000 gallons, but by 1985 structural problems forced the building to close and the exhibits were transferred to the Cleveland Metroparks in 1986.

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1957

After additional landfill had been placed in Lake Erie, a 5,200-foot hard surface runway opened at Burke Lakefront Airport.

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1959

The northern segment of Cleveland’s Innerbelt (I-90) that would eventually wrap downtown Cleveland on its eastern and southern sides opened between Memorial Shoreway and Chester Avenue.   A sharp curve, created as the depressed highway passed under the lakefront railroad tracks and merged with the Shoreway, produced numerous accidents and continues to be known locally as “Deadmans Curve”.

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1968

Intercity Yacht Club was established at East 72nd Street north of Gordon Park.

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1972

The City of Cleveland leased property at the eastern end of Burke Lakefront Airport to the Cleveland Board of Education to build Aviation High School.

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1975

A confined disposal facility, holding dredgings from the Cuyahoga River shipping channel, was filled creating 114 acres of new land at the eastern end of Burke Lakefront Airport.

historic, art deco building available for third-wave business & owner

art deco historic Jednota office building for lease -- Our friend Dennis just let us know that he is ready to lease out his office building on East 55th at Broadway. This is an incredibly attractive property for someone who wants to live luxuriantly above his or her business -- Dennis and Georgia did for years with their medical electronics company. Now, they're in a renovated loft down the street. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity in an unbelievable property. Near I-490, Broadway, Hyacinth Lofts, & I-77, and a short hop to two airports.

how did we ever miss this one?

Questions for Suze Orman - She's So Money - Deborah Solomon - New York Times -- So who needs the the Harvard Lampoon or the National Lampoon or the Enquirer any more, with this sort of material in the straight-up news? This Deborah Solomon is one skilled interviewer, and this is a marvelous exchange. Even though it speaks for itself, have some fun and read it aloud. The bold type is Deborah, all the rest is the tough but virginal Suze.

Q: As one of the most widely read financial gurus of our time, why would you write a book like “Women and Money,” which is based on the regressive premise that women are birdbrains when it comes to managing money? I would think women are better at saving than men. No, they save and then they give it to their best friends, who need it. They give it to their children, who need it. They give it all away once they’ve saved it.

Isn’t that admirable? That depends on what it leaves them with. It’s not admirable when it leaves them with nothing. I want to change women from savers to investors. I do think eventually they should all have Roth I.R.A.’s. You don’t want an I.R.A. You want a Roth I.R.A., if you qualify.

I know. I read the book. Did you like it?

I found it a little basic. I can’t believe you thought it was simplistic. You are in denial. For instance, do you have a will and a living revocable trust in place?

No. Oh, my God! Actuarially speaking, your husband will die before you. That’s actuarially speaking. Your husband, let’s say, has just died. You now are by yourself. You have a stroke. You’re totally incapacitated. It’s reality. It happens. Who is going to be able to write your bills for you and take care of the money you have?

Do we have to decide this right now? Girlfriend, you don’t have a healthy relationship with yourself or your money. You put yourself on sale. You have shame, and you have blame. You view money differently because you are a woman.

Is this what feminism has bestowed upon women? The right to berate other women? Women don’t understand money. They will go into debt to pay for this and that.

Are you married? I’m in a relationship with life. My life is just out there. I’m on the road every day. I love my life.

Meaning what? Do you live with anyone? K.T. is my life partner. K.T. stands for Kathy Travis. We’re going on seven years. I have never been with a man in my whole life. I’m still a 55-year-old virgin.

Would you like to get married to K.T.? Yes. Absolutely. Both of us have millions of dollars in our name. It’s killing me that upon my death, K.T. is going to lose 50 percent of everything I have to estate taxes. Or vice versa.

How much are you worth these days? One journalist estimated my liquid net worth at $25 million. That’s pretty close. My houses are worth another $7 million.

What are your qualifications for giving financial advice, which you do in your books, your column in Oprah’s magazine and your CNBC television show? For seven years after college, I was a waitress at the Buttercup Bakery in Berkeley, and from there I got a job at Merrill Lynch as an account executive, from where I went to vice president of investments for Prudential-Bache Securities. I started my own firm in 1987.

Do you enjoy spending money? Oh, yes. My greatest pleasure is still flying private. I spend between $300,000 to $500,000, depending on my year, on flying private.

What do you do with the rest of your money? Save it and build it in municipal bonds. I buy zero-coupon municipal bonds, and all the bonds I buy are triple-A-rated and insured so that even if the city goes under, I get my money. I take a little lower interest rate to make sure my bonds are 100 percent safe and sound.

Do you play the stock market at all? I have a million dollars in the stock market, because if I lose a million dollars, I don’t personally care.

Burke Lakefront, and WORTH Magazine

WORTH Magazine and The Robb Report spend a lot of time and printspace talking about private personal and corporate aircraft. The January 2007 WORTH on page 78 addresses the issue of how "today's private jet owners seek to manage soaring costs by scrutinizing the maintenance and operation of their own aircraft." I'd link to the article if I could, but I can't.

It's been occurring to me that Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL) is an idea whose time has finally come. What other city has a jetport so close to its downtown with its best restaurants and classiest hotels? What better way could there be to do business, with your plane in such close proximity? I don't know that I'd fly in to negotiate any deals with any of the current leadership here, but I would make it a sort of "third place" for dealmakers, outside the major financial centers like NYC and San Francisco.

One problem may be the marketing. Going to the BKL page, there's really no mention of what sort of corporate jets may be accommodated, and clicking on the Cleveland Hotels link gives us a bunch of Baymonts and Days Inns. The city's continuing to fumble the ball on this one, and you wonder, after all these years, whether it's intentional, whether they systematically waste the opportunity, and the asset, by neglecting to do even minimal promotion. What are their other designs for the airport land? Who's supposed to get this unique asset when the city gives up on what it never really started?

How many outsiders know about the capacities or proximities or amenities of Burke?