"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
The words of 19th century philosopher George Santayana ring true when it comes to Illinois airports.

It was ten years ago that all the hoopla befitting a great occasion was taking place in the far southwestern reaches of Illinois - near a little town called Mascoutah.

The St. Clair County Mid-America Airport, as it was then called then, was part of the conversion plan to turn Scott Air Force Base into a joint military/civilian-use airport. It was billed as a reliever airport for Lambert Field just across the river in St. Louis, Missouri.

The new airport estimated to cost $220 million was supposed to bring economic prosperity to all of southwestern Illinois and eastern Missouri, employing 600 people during its first year. Promotions from the day predicted it would serve 1.1 million passengers by the year 2000. That was the promise of then Gov. Jim Edgar.

Edgar has also been credited with reviving the notion to build a new airport near Peotone even after the idea was struck down years earlier by a bi-state policy committee which consisted of Edgar’s own appointments.

In ’97, Edgar started a new five-year program to fund airport projects - ones that didn’t fit the criteria for federal funding. Under Edgar’s plan, O’Hare airport received no state money. At that time O’Hare was funded only by federal and local money.

Edgar’s new state program utilized $88.8 million from the federal government, $12.3 million in state money from bonds earmarked for airport improvements, and $67.5 million in local funds.

MidAmerica was a big recipient with $3.5 million set aside to build the entrance roads, parking lots, final landscaping and pavement markings.

When all was said and done, Illinois taxpayers contributed $60 million to the airport whose actual price tag swelled to $307.5 million, which included $13.3 million to connect the military side at Scott Air Force Base with the civilian side — MidAmerica. St. Clair County residents paid $30 million for the project initially.

MidAmerica was hyped heavily. From opening day until now, the airport has never met its inflated expectations.

In the summer of ’97, Edgar provided $1.5 million in state transit funds for the final planning and design of an 8.6-mile extension of the MetroLink light rail system from Belleville Area Community College to MidAmerica. That amount was matched by St. Clair County. The engineering for that project cost $10.4 million for a total project cost of $88 million. It included three new stations and four additional light-rail vehicles.

As with the Peotone project, TAMS was the project manager for MidAmerica Airport. Part of the project included a $1.8 million wetlands mitigation program. To build the taxiway, a forested wetlands area along a creek was destroyed, including about 87 acres of wetlands.

TAMS reported that MidAmerica’s environmental assessment cited 145 species of birds, 19 of which are threatened or endangered, 40 species of fish, and 23 different kinds of mammals.

TAMS intended to uproot 110 dead trees to be replanted south of the runway, to make a home for birds and other wildlife. Thousands of seedlings would also be planted. Five retention ponds were to be built to serve as flood-control basins for runoff from the runway, which would be home to fish and waterfowl.

Former corn and soybean fields - about 115 acres of them - were planted with thousands of seedlings for reforestation.

The entire project displaced more than 4,500 acres of prime farmland.

Since its construction was completed, MidAmerica has had a storied history.

Oct. 25, 1997 was to be its opening day. But even that was delayed. Among other things, there was a scheduling conflict with Scott Air Force Base.

Mid-America was finally certified by the FAA on Oct. 31, 1997. Opening day was moved to Nov. 8, but that too was delayed because the terminal wasn’t completed. Finally in early May, 1998, 500 people showed up for the grand opening. A $125-a-plate dinner commemorated the completion of the $8.7 million terminal.

Because of the publicity surrounding MidAmerica a few months earlier, that celebratory dinner may not have tasted quite as well as promised by the pricey fare.

In January of that year, Tom Brokaw of the NBC Nightly News highlighted the MidAmerica Airport in his Fleecing of America feature. He called it the "Gateway to Nowhere." It was only a two-minute segment, but it left a bitter taste in the mouths of supporters. Airport Director Bob Hargrove was critical of the piece, stating that MidAmerica was always designed to be a benefit for the long term.

Marty Salfen of the International Airline Passengers Association called MidAmerica "a waste of taxpayers’ money." The Chicago Tribune wrote a Sunday editorial about MidAmerica that ended with a reference to the airlines that read, "Notice, gentlemen, that if you build it, they may not come."

Robert Crandall, the former Chief Executive of AMR Corp. the parent of American Airlines quipped, "St. Louis may be the Gateway to the West, but MidAmerica is the gateway to nowhere."

Finally, in the Spring of 1998, MidAmerica got its first paying customer.

Langa Air, an aircraft fueling and maintenance company began a small operation there, though it was short-lived. The company which began its endeavor with high hopes has relocated back to Lambert International at St. Louis.

By summer, three Trans WorldAirlines jets had landed at MidAmerica bringing about $80 in landing fees each time. MidAmerica was the alternative during bad weather for TWA traffic, whose hub was at Lambert. But that arrangement ended when TWA was acquired by American Airlines in 2001.

In September, of ‘98, after learning that Lambert was planning a $2.6 million expansion program, State Rep. Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville, a member of the General Assembly since 1995, filed a complaint with the FAA. He had hoped to block the expansion, by stating that MidAmerica should be used to relieve air traffic congestion. Other legislators came on board. Holbrook’s actions were applauded by the residents of Missouri that would be most affected by additional air traffic.

Interestingly, Edgar favored the expansion of Lambert, stating that MidAmerica was meant as a reliever for Lambert, not a replacement.

"Why should we, as a region, spend billions of dollars at Lambert before we utilize MidAmerica to its full capacity?" Holbrook asked.

The next month, the expansion was approved. It was billed as the largest public works project in St. Louis’ history.

As MidAmerica celebrated its first birthday, it had seen about 3,000 take-offs and landings, though most of those were military planes. There was little fanfare. Even politicians running for office campaigned some place else.

In the summer of 1999 then Gov. George Ryan signed a bill to create an enterprise zone around MidAmerica Airport and to offer tax breaks to companies that would move to the area and create jobs.

Even without regular business, the costs for Mid America continued to rise. There was a request for $2.5 million in improvements for 2000. They included a fence to keep deer off the runway, and about $50,000 to replace runway lights, which were too short to meet federal requirements.

Local taxpayers would pay $756,000. The state contributed $852,000 and the federal government paid the balance.

The annual operating budget at MidAmerica was $2.2 million. The operating budget in 1999 was increased to $3.4 million, with a million for salaries of security guards, maintenance workers, managers and other personnel. Part of that expense included marketing costs of $161,000 to four companies.

The future looked bright in August, 2000 when a restructured Pan American Airlines began flying out of MidAmerica. Its first flight, Aug. 16, was to the Gary/Chicago International Airport. But as luck would have it, the return trip, that was supposed to be 45 minutes long, was delayed. The pilot was forced into a holding pattern for five hours and was later directed to land at Lambert in St. Louis.

Three months after September 11, 2001 Pan Am suspended flights at MidAmerica. Today, the airline primarily serves the east coast with charter flights to the Caribbean.

Little changed at MidAmerica until June 2005. Eight years after it opened, MidAmerica celebrated its 10,000th passenger, well below the 1.1 million projected to use the facility by 2000.

Today, MidAmerica is served by one passenger airline — Allegiant Air - which offers flights each week to Las Vegas and Orlando, Fl. Airport supporters remain optimistic.

But, even the longtime St. Clair County board member who made the motion to build the airport admits that building the airport may not have been a good idea. Admitting that MidAmerica never achieved its goals, he doubts he would do it all over again, if given the chance.

Michael Boyd, a longtime aviation consultant was concerned about the potential for MidAmerica ten years ago. He feared it would not be successful.

Supporters are now gaining interest in turning the airport into a cargo facility. They think that idea could turn things around at MidAmerica.

Boyd recently told them that there is nothing to turn around, because they have built something that simply isn’t needed.