Cleveland Press reporters Paul Lilley and Bill Rice and their wives were eating dinner at “the most exclusive restaurant in town.”
In fact, they were the only ones there.
They packed a picnic lunch, including tuna salad sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs, and trudged up the back steps to the second level of Burke Lakefront Airport (the escalators weren’t working) for a lunch that offered a great view — but little else. “The site seems ideal for a smart restaurant operator, but so far it’s a pretty lonely place to dine,” said the story, with the byline of Mrs. Paul Lilley and Mrs. Bill Rice.
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It was another step in the lengthy — and still unfinished — process to make Burke Lakefront Airport a destination.
In 1947, a temporary runway was constructed along the lakefront, between East Ninth and East 12th streets, as the city started to look for options to alleviate traffic at its main airport (now Hopkins International). The lakefront airport continued to grow, and on Oct. 9, 1960, a new terminal was dedicated. By 1965, there were dozens of commercial commuter flights coming out of the airport — and a new restaurant, which took some doing.
Initially, the city sought a lessee that would pay $72,000 in annual rent and a percentage of the liquor sales. Eventually, through various fits and starts, a Brown Derby restaurant opened on the second floor in 1964 with a 15-year lease. A year later, its operator, Mark Figetakis, parted ways with the regional chain, and the restaurant was renamed the Mark. Figetakis opened dozens of restaurants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida before the company declared bankruptcy in 1979. Two years later, a new restaurant emerged, Metin’s, named for its operator, Metin Aydin. That restaurant was closed in 1983 by the IRS. The second-floor space at Burke has been offices and storage since.
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