Destination airport: Logistics hub takes shape
With the opening of the McNamara / Northwest World Gateway in 2002, Wayne County was championing the idea of building an aerotropolis extending south from the airport toward Huron Township, and west to the site of Willow Run Airport. Medical / research laboratories and logistics companies would abound the area, anchored by what would be termed a “Racino”, an Indian-run casino and horse racetrack to be located northwest of the I-94 / Merriman Road corridor.
Officials believed, in spite of the closure of Ladbrooke DRC in Livonia several years earlier, horse racing was still alive and well with the public, and would bring additional business to the airport for those people arriving to stay in that area, versus going to Detroit and other surrounding areas.
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