So Long, Cemetery: Court Approves Expansion at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport
5/13/2008
CHICAGO – The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on Monday from St. John’s United Church. This eliminated at least one of several legal obstacles facing Chicago’s O’Hare Airport as it takes steps to expand.
St. John’s has been fighting the construction of new runways at the airport because plans call for the relocation of the church’s 159-year-old St. Johannes Cemetery. The cemetery has 1,400 graves – all of which will be exhumed and reburied – according to the directions of the next of kin.
“We are extremely pleased with today’s U.S. Supreme Court order,” said Rosemarie S. Andolino, executive director of the O’Hare modernization program, in a Monday statement. “With the ruling [finalized], we will continue to move forward with [the] acquisition of the cemetery and will be contacting next of kin in order to begin the relocation process.”
Other legal battles for O’Hare include federal litigation in the Washington, D.C. circuit court that challenges the legality of FAA funding and the proper use of religiously affiliated property.
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