Cornelia Fort Airpark

The primary reason for closure was extensive and irreparable damage caused by the May 2010 flood. The adjacent Cumberland River overflowed its banks, submerging the entire airpark—including the runway, hangars, offices, and dozens of aircraft—under more than eight feet of water. The estimated cost of rebuilding and restoring the facility to operational standards was prohibitively high. Furthermore, the airpark's location within a critical floodplain made future investment economically unfeasible and risky, leading the city to pursue a non-aviation use for the land.

The site has been fully repurposed and integrated into the adjacent Shelby Bottoms Greenway, a large urban park managed by Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation. The former runway and taxiways have been converted into a wide, paved multi-use trail popular for walking, running, cycling, and rollerblading. The open, flat landscape of the former airfield provides a unique green space with expansive views. The former terminal building and some surrounding land have been renovated and are now operated as the 'Cornelia Fort Airpark Event Venue,' a popular location for weddings, concerts, and community events. The area is now primarily used for public recreation and nature preservation.

Cornelia Fort Airpark holds significant historical importance in both aviation and music history.

1. **Tribute to an Aviation Pioneer:** The airport was named in honor of Cornelia Fort, a Nashville native and pioneering female aviator. Fort was a civilian flight instructor in Honolulu and was in the air during the attack on Pearl Harbor. She later became one of the first members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. In 1943, she became the first female pilot in American history to die on active military duty. The airpark was established on her family's former farm land after the war.

2. **General Aviation Hub:** For over 60 years, it was Nashville's primary general aviation airport, serving private pilots, flight schools, charter services, and business aviation. It was a bustling hub for the local aviation community.

3. **Patsy Cline Plane Crash:** The airpark is tragically famous as the intended destination of the Piper Comanche aircraft that crashed on March 5, 1963. The crash, which occurred in a forest near Camden, Tennessee, during bad weather, killed country music legends Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins, as well as the pilot, Randy Hughes. They were returning to Nashville after a benefit concert in Kansas City.

There are zero plans or prospects for reopening Cornelia Fort Airpark as an aviation facility. Its conversion into a public park and event space is permanent. The significant flood risk of the location makes it unsuitable for critical infrastructure like an airport, and its current use as a recreational asset is highly valued by the Nashville community. The land is now zoned as parkland, and any effort to revert it to an airport would face insurmountable logistical, financial, and political obstacles.