Eckberg Airport

While no official reason was published, the closure is consistent with common factors affecting small, private airfields. The most likely reason is economic. The land was owned by a private entity ('Eckberg & Sons'), and the decision was likely made to cease aviation operations and fully convert the land back to its primary, more profitable use: agriculture. There is no evidence of a major accident, military conversion, or regulatory action forcing the closure.

The site of the former airport has been completely reclaimed for agricultural use. Satellite imagery of the coordinates shows the land is now an active farm field, with crops planted over the area where the runway once existed. The faint outline of the former north/south runway is still slightly visible in the soil and crop patterns, but all airport infrastructure has been removed. The land is part of the surrounding farmland.

Eckberg Airport was a small, private-use general aviation airfield. It featured a single north/south turf runway (18/36) approximately 2,600 feet long. Its operations were limited to private recreational flying, likely by the owners and their associates. Given its location in the heart of Illinois farmland, it may have also supported local agricultural aviation (crop dusting). The airport was not a commercial or public facility and held local significance for the private pilots who used it, rather than having a broader historical impact.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Eckberg Airport. The land has been fully integrated back into agricultural production, which is its primary value in this region. Re-establishing an airport would require significant investment and the conversion of productive farmland, making it economically unfeasible and highly unlikely.