and Chicago. Only flying boats could be used because Chicago did not yet have a suitable nearby airport, except for Grant Park, which was occasionally used as a landing strip. Local publishing mogul Merrill C. Meigs supported earlier recommendations for converting Northerly Island into an airport, but construction did not begin for numerous reasons, such as lack of funds during the Great Depression and WW II. Construction did not begin until after a competing proposal to host the United Nations Headquarters on the island was lost in 1946. The Works Progress Administration connected the island to the mainland via a causeway at 12th Street in 1938. During this period Northerly Island was full of paths and walkways as well as a beach at 12th Street. Transformation from an airport into a park In 1994, Mayor Richard M. Daley announced plans to close the airport and build a park in its place. In 1996, the Chicago Park District, which owned Northerly Island, refused to renew the airport lease. The city briefly closed the airport from the expiration of the lease in October 1996 through February 1997 when pressure from the state legislature persuaded them to reopen the airport. Ultimately on the night of March 30, 2003, Mayor Daley ordered city crews to make the runway unusable by bulldozing large X-shaped gouges into the runway surface in the middle of the night. Daley defended his actions by claiming it would save the City of Chicago the effort of further court battles before the airport could close. He claimed that safety concerns required the closure, due to the post-September 11 risk of terrorist-controlled aircraft attacking the downtown waterfront near Meigs Field. While aviation interests and commentators decried the move, supporters of the park believe it was in the city's best interest for the land to be a park. In 2005, an outdoor concert venue opened on the northern part of Northerly Island. Originally named Charter One Pavilion, it was expanded in 2013 and renamed to First Merit Bank Pavilion, and as of January 2017 it is named Huntington Bank Pavilion. In December 2010, the Chicago Park District unveiled its framework plan for Northerly Island, to be completed over the next 20–30 years. The planned park would provide a variety of uses year-round with ecology and education central themes. A reef would be built, and the park would be designated into zones of "passive"