Park Hill Airport Lawsuit Files Reach the Denver Public Library Archives
So what was the Park Hill Airport Lawsuit?
By Erin Vanderberg / Editor
“I keep reminding myself that I started this work in my early 30s and I will be 72 this summer,” said Peg Meagher.
Meagher was one of five plantiffs of the Park Hill Airport Lawsuit which, in 1985, resulted in the decision to close Stapleton International Airport.
She recently got the old gang back together for an evening to reminisce. In attendance were: plaintiffs of the Park Hill Lawsuit – herself and Cecil Glenn; Attorneys Mark Davidson and Terry Kelly; Park Hill Airport Committee members Marjorie Gilbert and Karen Salimen; and Skip Spensley, whose work as the Director of the New Airport Office directly overlapped with the GPHC’s. The group decided that it was best to get their papers where other interested neighborhood groups could learn from their community efforts to make a change.
But, to fully understand the impact of what they did, the whole story is in order.
A Brief History of Stapleton
The Park Hill neighborhood was well underway before Stapleton was even imagined by the City, however the period from 1910-1920s saw Park Hill as the flying hub of the metro area. Historian Phil Goodstein attributes this to what he calls the geographical deteminism of northeast Denver, with its low altitude and flat expanses. Humphrey’s Field (northeast of 26th Avenue and Oneida Street), Denver Urban Airport (between 48th and 52nd avenues and Dahlia and Holly streets) and Lowry Field (also between Dahlia and Holly streets from 38th to what is now Smith Road) were all precursors to the Denver Municipal Airport, which opened in October 1929 and was renamed Stapleton International Airport after a former city mayor during its 35th anniversary celebration in 1964.
Airport Adversity
The addition of jet operations, circa 1959, marked the beginning of noise and pollution adversely affecting Park Hill. Residents complained, among other things, that they could not have five minutes of uninterupted conversation and that jet pollution soiled their laundry. According to Mark Davidson, when he bought his first house at 23rd and Grape, he could see the faces of the passengers in the windows of planes as they landed at Stapleton. As the airport grew to become a major hub for United, Continental and Frontier, Stapleton was operating at capacity. According to Peg Meagher, this meant bombardment of aircraft noise from 800 feet, up to 1,200 times, 10 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Park Hill Airport Lawsuit
On March 27, 1981, the Airport Lawsuit was filed against the City and County of Denver, the Manager of Public Works and the Director of Aviation. The Plaintiffs were 4 Park Hill residents – Cecil E. Glenn, Margaret A. “Peg” Meagher, Kathryn A. Cheever and Mabel Ritchie – and one resident of Aurora – John El Blosser. The two pro bono attorneys on the case were Park Hill residents Mark Davidson and Terry Kelly. According to Davidson, the basis of the lawsuit was the City’s violation of the Colorado Noise Abatement statute in its operation of Stapleton. The airlines, through the Air Transport Association (the airlines’ trade association), immediately intervened in opposition to the lawsuit and they funded most of the opposition, even though the City was the actual Defendant.
Mayor Peña and the Settlement
In 1983, Federico Peña was elected mayor, in part through his campaign commitments to include neighborhoods in the discussion of city issues. While, like many Denvervites, Peña was initially concerned that the closure of Stapleton would signify a waste of taxpayer investment, the economic doldrums of the time drove Peña to bolster public work efforts and his mind opened around the issue of Stapleton, particularly since the Park Hill Airport Lawsuit had yet to be settled. Peña reached out to GPHC to request the group explore settlement options. Out of those discussions, a settlement was reached that went beyond the plantiffs demands – the City committed to move the airport to Adams County by the year 2000, upon which point it would cease all airport operations at the Stapleton site. Though it experienced several delays in opening, mainly due to a computerized baggage system which never functioned properly and was eventually abandoned 10 years later, Denver International Airport opened in 1995, and as the country’s largest airport, quickly became a jewel in the U.S. air transport system. For his participation in the successful endeavor, Peña was appointed U.S. Secretary of Transportation and then Energy under Clinton.
Supporters
All said and done, it was an effort 15 years in the making, completely dependent on volunteer time and fundraiser money. While there were too many to mention, Davidson and Meagher believe that a lot of credit must be placed squarely on two additional people: Councilman Bill Roberts and Greater Park Hill Airport Committee member Marjorie Gilbert.
Bill Roberts. Supporting all Park Hill’s efforts throughout the lawsuit, two annexation votes, design and construction of DIA was Councilman Bill Roberts. According to Davidson, Roberts helped the committee with strategy and counseled members before their numerous City Council appearances, where the majority opined that a move from Park Hill would solve the problem of living too close to an airport. “Bill encouraged us when we were disappointed in the outcome of City Council votes and never let us give up on what turned out to be a monumental achievement for a neighborhood organization that most people do not even remember as having happened,” said Davidson.
Marjorie Gilbert
According to Meagher, Marjorie Gilbert was another relentless supporter whose participation in the Greater Park Hill Airport Committee lent cohesion and passion to the project. “Marjorie turning 94 recently and her years jogged me into collecting these files for future generations to learn how community input can make change for the betterment of our living,” said Meagher.
Legacy
Following the successful annexation of the land for the new airport, lawsuit activists continued to contribute their input to airport-related issues. Mark Davidson was appointed to the Blue Ribbon DIA design committee by then Mayor Wellington Webb. Whenever proposals to build residential developments too close to DIA arise, Mark and Peg troop down to City Council meetings and tell them not to make the same mistakes their predecessors did with Stapleton.
To the Archives
Denver Public Library’s Acquisitions, Western History & Genealogy Special Collection will now undergo the process.
Specifically, the collection included paperwork related to the following:
• the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., Airport Committee;
• the Stapleton Concerned Citizens Committee;
• the Stapleton Noise Advisory Committee and the Stapleton Noise Hotline;
• the Park Hill Law Suit (Civil Action No. 81-CV-2719), initially filed outside of GPHC, Inc., and later adopted by GPHC, Inc., which was filed in 1980 and settled in 1985 with the mandate to move Stapleton Airport;
• correspondence with Mayor McNichols, Mayor Federico Pena and other city, state and federal leaders;
• correspondence with the “Ground Crew”, the 350+ people involved in addressing the issues of noise and safety for communities near Stapleton Airport;
• articles written by and/or for the Greater Park Hill News and other media outlets;
• a presentation created for “60 Minutes”;
• and data, environmental impact studies, petitions and testimony.