Next Comes a Stadium Plan

The Bears now are the proud owners of the Arlington International Racecourse property.

The closing is complete as of Wednesday on the 326-acre property and now they can move forward with plans for a domed stadium.

"Finalizing the purchase does not guarantee the land will be developed, but it is an important next step in our ongoing evaluation of the opportunity," the Bears said in an open letter released after the closing. "There is still a tremendous amount of due diligence work to be done to determine if constructing an enclosed state-of-the-art stadium and multi-purpose entertainment district is feasible.

"Should we proceed, the development of the Arlington Heights property would be one of the largest mega-projects in midwest history. Possible construction of a stadium-anchored development is projected by analysts to create more than 48,000 jobs, generate $9.4 billion in economic impact for the Chicagoland economy and provide $3.9 billion in new labor income to workers across the region. The completed mega-project would create more than 9,750 long-term jobs, generate $1.4 billion in annual economic impact for Chicagoland and provide $601 million in annual labor income to workers across Chicagoland."

The Bears have emphasized they are not seeking public funds for the stadium itself, and this is good because Gov. J.B. Pritzker again repeated last week there would be none forthcoming.

However, they need some public funding for something else.

"If we proceed, however, this project would require assistance to ensure feasibility, including our securing property tax certainty and support for infrastructure commensurate with the public benefits the project will yield to the region," the letter said.

The Bears have put forth one plan they say would help with such public funding for infrastructure but there appears great opposition to this and it's a matter yet for discussion in Springfield. By infrastructure, they say they are referring to "...improvements such as roads for better traffic flow and water drainage."

The Bears also said in the letter they'll continue engaging area residents and government officials on any plans.

They have held one public meeting at Hersey High School on the topic and expect more meetings.

The city of Chicago remains hopeful of engaging the Bears in talks about a dome for Soldier Field or any number of plans but so far the Halas Hall line is they are looking only at the Arlington Heights property and will fulfill their Soldier Field lease, which runs to 2033.

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