HR0485 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0485 LRB104 15547 LAW 28712 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria (MAAP) on the occasion of its 75th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, Peoria's ties to aviation began before the city had an official airport; in the summer of 1910, the Wright brothers sent one of their instructors to Peoria for an exhibition flight; a year later, the city was one of the stops for Cal Rogers, the first pilot to successfully complete a transcontinental flight across the United States; and

WHEREAS, Peoria was also visited by Charles Lindberg, who made numerous stops as he flew the St. Louis to Chicago airmail route, at a time when the city had no formal airport, possessing only a small building and a grass strip in an area where the Shoppes at Grand Prairie is located today; and

WHEREAS, On May 19, 1932, Peorians officially voted to create an airport that would be situated on 195 acres, which was purchased by 261 Peoria businessmen, establishing Peoria Airport, Inc., an airport with only four shale runways; and

WHEREAS, The Peoria Airport was under the purview of the Peoria Park District from 1937 until the formation of MAAP in 1950, which still owns and operates both Peoria International Airport and Mt. Hawley Auxiliary Airport today; and

WHEREAS, On October 10, 2008, MAAP dedicated the Greater Peoria Regional Airport as the General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport after Gen. Wayne A. Downing, a resident of Peoria and a retired, four-star general of the United States Army; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, MAAP dedicated a new two-story addition at Peoria International Airport in honor of former Transportation Secretary and Congressman Ray LaHood, with the upper level of the building housing airline gates and the lower level being occupied by U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and

WHEREAS, MAAP, in addition to Peoria International Airport's buildings and grounds changing over the years, has seen an increase in the airport's passenger counts, going from welcoming 50,000 passengers enplaning and deplaning per year in the late 1950s to setting an all-time record high of 689,416 passengers in 2019; and

WHEREAS, Today, MAAP offers 12 nonstop destinations through three airlines at Peoria International Airport, and the airport provides the longest runway in Illinois outside of Chicago and houses the only 24-hour FAA control tower outside of Chicago, all while only employing 26 full-time staff; and

WHEREAS, MAAP also owns and maintains more than 3,500 acres while serving many tenants, including private hangars, fixed base operators (FBOs), and cargo facilities, as well as providing access to the Army and Air National Guards; and

WHEREAS, MAAP will celebrate its 75th anniversary on October 22, 2025; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria (MAAP) on achieving its 75th anniversary; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Gene Olson, Director of Airports, and the MAAP Board of Commissioners as an expression of our esteem and respect.