Joliet Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) west of the central business district of Joliet, a city in Will County, Illinois, United States. It is owned by the Joliet Park District.The airport is also 37 miles (60 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. It opened in April 1930.HistoryJoliet's first airport, Originally known as Joliet Municipal Airport, was proposed by Illinois Senator Richard Barr in the mid-1920s. It was operated by the Joliet Park District, the first airport in the country to be operated by such an authority. The land was purchased in September 1928 and the airport was built with assistance from the United States Department of Commerce. The airport was dedicated in September 1930, with an aerobatics show and bomb-dropping. The Park District relocated their main office to the airport. Most operations were transferred to a new airfield in 1940. A transmitter is still functional at the old airport and the hangar was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.Facilities and aircraftJoliet Regional Airport covers an area of 178acre at an elevation of 581 feet (177 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 12/30 is 2,937 by 100 feet (895 x 30 m) with an asphalt pavement and 4/22 is 2,746 by 150 feet (837 x 45m) with a turf surface.
