Vote fails to save Berlin airlift site
A grass-roots campaign to save Tempelhof Airport, the epicenter of the Berlin airlift of 1948-49, fizzled after supporters failed to win enough votes in a citywide referendum.
Voters endorsed, 3 to 2, a measure to prevent the closure of the Cold War landmark. But election officials said they could not certify the results because turnout was too low. Only 22% of registered voters cast ballots in favor of the measure, short of the 25% required.
Berlin lawmakers had previously decreed that the historic site must close in October to make way for a planned international airport on the southeast edge of the city.
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit said after the referendum that the city would move ahead with its plans to mothball Tempelhof.
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