04. Pat Gleason Memorial Airport

Most of Newcastle’s tourist traffic arrives by train or boat, and the addition of PGM in the late 1950s felt very much like an afterthought. The airport serves international carriers, but only a few flights from foreign countries stop here. The whole neighborhood has a feel of unrecognized potential — the airport could probably be bigger and busier, if more effort and money were spent convincing airlines to serve the area, and the low-income housing around the airport could be less violent and disheveled, if the residents felt any pride in ownership. For the most part, though, the airport and its neighborhood are “good enough” for what they’re supposed to be. The runways of the airport are notoriously soft, probably as a result of having been built on inadequate structural support.

Background:

Pat Gleason was a detective who made commissioner and eventually became mayor of Newcastle in the early 1950s. He laid the groundwork for the introduction of the airport in hopes that it would be a tremendous boon to the local economy, but that never quite happened. Sure, the place is accessible to the airlines, but it’s generally cheaper and less difficult to come in by land or sea. As well, the building of the airport itself marks an ugly chapter in Newcastle’s history of corruption, as its construction was a deal brokered between the city commissioner and his cousin to the financial benefit of both men. The airport was built cheaply, and it shows, from its ramshackle shops to its interminable security lines all funneling through a single station.

Alternative Name(s)

Airport

Type

District

Location under

New Castle