Bears stadium
Coverage of the Bears’ efforts to build a new home in the Chicago area.
Commentary
Not a dollar of taxpayer money went to the renovation of Wrigley Field and its current reinvigorated neighborhood, one reader points out.
In exchange for billions of dollars in public money, the public deserves an ownership stake in the franchises.
The city is willing to put private interests ahead of public benefit and cheer on a wrongheaded effort to build a massive domed stadium — that would be perfect for Arlington Heights — on Chicago’s lakefront.
We all love sports teams, but regular people don’t own the buildings or the land they frolic upon. We just pay homage to the teams — and to the power-laden who own them.
Three bills surfaced in the Illinois General Assembly that could’ve thrown the team a block in their rush to the former Arlington International Racecourse, but none made headway by the time lawmakers gaveled out early Sunday.
Jason Lee, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s senior mayoral adviser, acknowledged that for the foreseeable future, Arlington Heights has the ball, and Chicago isn’t even on the field playing defense.
A statement released by the Bears confirmed the team has made “significant progress” with the new political leadership in Arlington Heights.
Predictably and officially, the Bears have turned their stadium attention back to Arlington Heights.
In a contentious letter to the Chicago Park District, Bears President Kevin Warren complained about the physical condition of Soldier Field and its operations, which he blamed on “the lack of routine maintenance and capital improvements.”
The players and new coach Ben Johnson get to know each other better during offseason sessions at Halas Hall.
Mayor-elect Jim Tinaglia inherits a stadium flirtation that seemingly has shifted back in favor of Arlington Heights over Chicago in recent weeks.
The Bears own 326 acres in Arlington Heights.
More than two years after purchasing 326 acres in Arlington Heights, the Bears have still not decided whether to put their proposed new stadium there.
Even if the Bears build a new stadium in Arlington Heights, Soldier Field — owned by the Chicago Park District — remains a “great asset for the city” and will be just fine, said Rosa Escareno, who hands the park district reins to Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa in less than two weeks.
Three multi-billion dollar proposals have been put on the table for the next home of the Chicago Bears. Here’s a look at how each one sizes up.
Team president Kevin Warren wants the lakefront, but fans will come wherever the Bears build, so do it in a place with rare potential.
Scott Goodman of Farpoint Development hasn’t met with the Bears about his plan for a lakefront Bronzeville dome, but he’s showing his cards as the team has expressed a renewed interest in moving to Arlington Heights.
Even if some heirs want to cash out, experts say it’s unlikely to impact the borrowing capacity the McCaskey family needs to bankroll a new stadium. That’s because NFL rules now allow teams to sell up to 10% to private equity investors.
Disagreements over property taxes and public funding have driven the discussion of the Bears’ desire to leave century-old Soldier Field, where the team has played since 1971.
The Bears have owned 326 acres in Arlington Heights for almost two years.
“Thank God we live in Illinois because, we’re already Trump-proof,” Welch told the Sun-Times. “We did a lot of the hard work the first time. … We took him at his word the first time when he said he would overturn Roe v. Wade and turn the powers of state government against immigrant communities.”
Warren was announced as the Bears’ fifth president/CEO exactly two years ago Sunday.
The Bears still hope to begin stadium construction at some point this year, preferably at a Museum Campus parking lot next to Soldier Field.
The team says it’s still focused on building a new dome on Chicago’s lakefront, but a potential move to the suburbs got a lot easier this week as they ended a property tax dispute with school districts around the former Arlington International Racecourse.