The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-10-03
NATIONAL RD.
SITE FAVORED
FOR AIRPORT
All but Three Tracts Are
Eliminated by Citizen
Committee.
FINAL DECISION FRIDAY
New Appraisal Figures to
Be Presented Before
Choice Is Made.

Final decision on a municipal air.
port site, deferred Tuesday by the
citizens committee until Friday, to-
day hinged on reappraisal figures
on Sites z, s, and 80, asked by
Chairman Fred G. Gardner.
While still considering all three
sites, the committee expressed itself
as favorable to acceptance of site
80, with 875 acres, at an average
of 1913 an acre, located six miles
west on the National highway,
north of Ben Davis.
Decision was deferred until the
new appraisal figures can be OBJ
/. tanned and until engineers of the
Transcontinental Air Transport,
which plans to make Indianapolis
a stop on its air-rail, ocean-to-o ocean
passenger line, can come here to
give final approval for the T. A. T.
Asks for Engineer
A telegram was sent by the COM
mittee Tuesday evening to Col. Paul
G. Henderson, general manager of
T. A. T., asking that Col. Charles
A. Lindberg, or some other engineer
for the company, be sent here be-
tween now and Friday.
Philip r. Love, former air mail
pilot and former controlling
engineer of the air transport organi-
zation, passing through Indianapolis
today, was asked to view the sites
this afternoon and make a
recommendation to the air trans
port officials on which they might
act instead of sending someone
here.
Site 80, offered by Edward w.
Pearson, 3015 w. Michigan ST., OPP
ton holder, and Asa R. Mathis,
Fletcher Savings and Trust Com
pany, has the advantage, in the
committees eyes, of being accessible
to both the Big -Four and Penn
sylvania railroads and the National
highway.
Level and well drained, committee
members believed this site, although
higher in price than Site 8, imme-
diately south of it, may be worth
the difference in cost.
Site Z, an addition to the National
Guard port, Mars Hill, includes 636
acres at an average price of 1886,
surrounding the present 182-acre
Guard field. The Guard field, ac-
cording to James w. Hurt, realtor
holding options on the adjoining
tract, will be available at all times
for use by the city, not only through
promises given by the armory board,
but by War Department regulations
requiring that military fields be
available free of charge to all f1ierS.
Hurt presented letter from Will
liam H. Kershner, Indiana adjutant
general, offering free use Of the field,
which the Guard proposes to pur-
chase, the Guard reserving fer its
own use only a narrow strip on the
east for its hangers and other
buildings.
He explained that the armory
board preferred to buy the field it
self, because the Government,
through liberal rental allowance,
would in twenty years retire the Or
iginal cost.
1000 Acres in Site 8
Site, which is south of Site 30,
with the Pennsylvania Railroad as
the north boundary, contains 1000
acres at an average cost of $313.58
an acre. It is seven miles from the
city.
options on a total of 1854 acres
are held in Site Z, but the commit
tee tentatively eliminated 289 acres
in the southeast corner because of
alleged excessive cost.
The committee considered advan-
tages of Site z, including city water
and gas, a sewer within a half mile,
its distance of only four miles from
Monument Circle and the paving of
Holt Rd., now in progress.