Glenview Selling Off Naval Air Base Land
GLENVIEW, Ill. (CBS) - The Village of Glenview next year will try to sell 44 acres of land that once had been part of the former Glenview Naval Air Station.
The property at Shermer Road and West Lake Avenue is the last publicly owned of the 1,100-acre military base that became The Glen -- the collective name for the subdivisions, shopping centers and office parcels redeveloped there.
"Because (the real estate market) was under siege, so to speak, it made more sense to wait," said Ellen Dean, the village's economic development coordinator.
Almost all of the 44 acres were part of the 93 acres that remained in Navy hands in 1995, after the base closed. They were offered to Glenview in 2006 after the Navy teamed with a private developer intending to reduce the number of military housing units in Glenview to 230.
The Glenview Naval Air Station opened in 1923 as the Cutiss-Reynolds airfield. One of its facilities, Hangar One, was originally built to be the center of a nationwide network of airports and flight academies when it was constructed in 1929.
The U.S. Navy took over the base in 1936, and it became a focal point for flight training during World War II. The base also served as an arrival point for prisoner s of war returning from Vietnam in 1973, and deployed forces to serve in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The U.S. Department of Defense decided to close the base in 1993, and a closure ceremony was held two years later.
Pioneer Press contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire
