Ratcliff Airport

The closure was primarily due to economic factors and urban encroachment. As the city of Lafayette expanded southward, the land occupied by the airport became increasingly valuable for commercial and residential real estate development. The airport was eventually sold and redeveloped, a common fate for small general aviation airports located on the fringes of growing cities.

The site of the former Ratcliff Airport has been completely redeveloped and is now unrecognizable as an airfield. The land is occupied by a dense mix of commercial and residential properties. Key developments on the former airport grounds include a Meijer superstore, a Chase Bank, various retail outlets, and the 'Commons at Concord' residential subdivision. The former runway's approximate north-south alignment is now covered by buildings, parking lots, and residential streets such as Amelia Earhart Court.

Ratcliff Airport, also known as Ratcliff Field, was a small, privately owned, public-use general aviation airport. Established sometime between 1949 and 1953, it was operated by the Ratcliff family. It served the local aviation community in Lafayette, primarily for personal flying, flight instruction, and aircraft storage. The airport featured a single, unpaved north/south runway, approximately 2,200 feet long. For several decades, it was one of the local hubs for private pilots in the area, complementing the larger, university-operated Purdue University Airport (KLAF). It represented a typical post-WWII era local airfield before suburban sprawl made such operations untenable in many locations.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening Ratcliff Airport. The land has been fully and permanently redeveloped for high-value commercial and residential use. Reacquiring the land and demolishing the extensive existing infrastructure would be logistically and financially prohibitive. The aviation needs of the Lafayette area are served by the nearby Purdue University Airport (KLAF).