Today I was looking at the St. Louis Beacon website, which had an interesting article about the past and future of Lambert, including finances and future planning.
From the article, I found some eye-opening statements from Lambert’s current director, Richard Hrabko.
This is a statement from the article quoting Mr. Hrabko, enthusiastically discussing the possibility of a St. Louis-China air shipping hub.
“Just imagine a trail of 747s coming in and out of here, hauling freight from China,” he said. “We have the capacity to do it. No question. And we think we have much better capacity than any place else in the U.S., including Chicago, which is really the main competition.”
Also from the article,
He said Lambert also has “several thousand acres” on which to build distribution facilities and other supporting infrastructure for a cargo hub.
Could the ‘several thousand acres of land’ be the airport’s vacant land on the I-170 side of the airport, or could this statement be in reference to the former Carrrollton subdivision? Where exactly do they expect to build this shipping hub? How will daily air shipments of Chinese goods really benefit our local economy?
Another damning quote from the article.
Hrabko said of the new runway,”Obviously was something that we wouldn’t build today.”
This should have been obvious in 2001, when they barely started the project and the whole airline industry tanked.
The article also mentions that the airport, in general is financially stable, but does have long-term obligations to pay off the runway expansion and that they could be in better shape.
Obviously. They can’t even tear down 26 houses.
Of course, the best thing to do with the empty space that was once my home is a temporary resting hold for cheap Chinese goods. Crates of disposable plastic bouncy balls bound for Wal-Mart might one day be stacked where my bedroom once was. What an odd and sad thought.
I want to start a petition to turn Carrollton into a state park much like the former Times Beach subdivision was turned into a state park.
Here’s a link to the full article on the St. Louis Beacon’s website. Thank you to the Beacon for your in-depth report.
J. Desy Schoenewies
56 Houses Left 
My father flies out of Lambert dozens of times a year, and he has never been on a plane that has used the new runway.
Bring it forth! It should be a park.
What a sad twist to the story. I would much rather see all the area where Carrollton once existed be used as a park. It basically looks like one already. Wouldn’t take much to finish the area off as a park. ” Carrollton State Park” has a nice ring to it. One hitch in the plan sure to arise is the matter of Security for the airport and Safety for park users. I believe these questions could be overcome. Another is, would the whole of what once was Carrollton be park,or, would the original area southeast of the 270 freeway be park while the area northwest of the freeway ( where my home was) be turned over to a business park or a holding facility for a shipping center. One way to know if any palns for split use is to watch and see if the Woodford Way bridge over the 270 is removed. Yes, A park is the best use for the entire area, would be a fitting end.
B.J.Wilson
[…] Finally, the last conclusion we can make is, the ground around Carrollton is now considered a contamination zone, after having been sprayed with asbestos where every house once was. There is probably no likelihood that the area will become a park, but at least Lambert will have a very difficult time developing on this land to convert it into their pipe-dream shipping hub. […]