Business View Magazine September 2018

186 187 ST. PAUL DOWNTOWN AIRPORT St. PaulDowntownAirport THE TWIN CITIES RELIEVER T he St. Paul Downtown Airport is located in Ramsey County, two miles southeast of down- town St. Paul, and just over 10 miles southeast of downtown Min- neapolis. It was founded in 1926, and subsequently named Holman Field, in honor of Charles W. “Speed” Holman, a local stunt pilot, barnstormer, wing walker, parachutist, airmail pilot, and aviation record holder, who died in an air show accident in 1931 at the age of 32. Throughout the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, Holman Field was the home of Northwest Airlines and the preferred commercial airport in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. During World War II, the Airport was enlisted in the national effort through a Northwest Airlines contract with the U.S. Army for the modification of over 3,000 B-24 bombers to specific theater configuration, with over 5,000 employees working onsite. After war’s end, it was returned to city control and its operations were turned over to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropol-