Highline citizens were invited to an open house put on by Port of Seattle officials last week at Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church to observe the upcoming Grand Opening of the remarkable Third Runway at the Sea-Tac Airport.

The church is under the flight path of the marvelous new runway.

I was unable to attend so I missed the opportunity to meet many officials who helped create this testament to the determination, skill and patience of thousands of leaders in their zeal.

This amazing billion dollar effort which displaced thousands of homes stands higher than the pyramids and required thousands upon thousands of trucks full of dirt and will only be used occasionally when the air is too foggy to trust landing and taking off in the middle runway.

It took 20 years to build it but they got it done.

I was in hopes the officials in charge would name it the Stuart Creighton Runway because this Normandy Park citizen dedicated much of his life in attempting to see that they do it right. He badgered the governmental bodies into safeguarding acres and acres of pristine wetlands, for example, that would have been filled with dirt and he became a persistent attendee at countless meetings to make sure someone without a monetary axe to grind was willing to act as a watch bird for the Highline area.

As a lifelong resident and Normandy Park official he had observed the demolition of over 3000 homes in the name of progress and millions of dollars spent in mitigating damages spent on noise reduction.

As a resident here when the acreage did not have magnificent hangars, glass offices and concrete, I admit I liked it better then.

I do have some concerns that the flight path for the new runway, which officials promise to use only occasionally, might one day necessitate removal of the church.

Author's note: Please forgive the fuzzy type that appears in this column. There was an airplane going overhead as I wrote this.