Bear Digest

Another Chicago Bid to Retain Bears Can Only Force Them to Indiana

An old, recycled project is being pushed for the Bears near Soldier Field now as the city comes in a little too late to keep the team but in plenty of time to push them to Indiana.
Gene Chamberlain|
Soldier Field is history in the Bears' Arlington Heights or Indiana debate but city politicians don't seem to realize they already missed their opportunity.
Soldier Field is history in the Bears' Arlington Heights or Indiana debate but city politicians don't seem to realize they already missed their opportunity. | Gene Chamberlain Photo: Chicago Bears On SI

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Chicago Bears

With the Illinois legislature returning in a week and the Arlington Heights stadium megaproject bill expected to be brought to the full House soon, it seems Chicago hasn't fired off its last salvo in an attempt to keep the Bears in the city.

If that's really the case, expect the Bears to be the Hammond/Gary Bears soon.

Developer Bob Dunn is trying to revive a 7-year-old proposal or a massive stadium and transportation/construction project in the area just south and west of Soldier Field on the lakefront.

The stadium project also was meant to be part of the addition of skyscrapers over the Metra Electric tracks near Soldier Field and north of McCormick Place.

The project would include up to $1.6 billion in bonding authority for Chicago.

The idea was to build a transit center for Metra, CTA and Amtrak all in a public-private partnership and the stadium would be part of this.

The General Assembly actually passed the bill for funding this transportation center before, and the state was authorized to contribute $6.5 billion.

Crain's Chicago Business reported Dunn's current attempt to revive interest in this project, which ultimately wasn't something the city had a stomach for when the pandemic and ensuing economic crunch hit.

Starting something like this now will invariably invite opposition from all the lakefront groups who come out of the woodwork every time a project is proposed for the lakefront, like a football stadium or George Lucas Museum. That only adds to delay time.

This all wreaks as too little, too late with regards to the Bears stadium.

Even Gov. J.B. Pritzker said only last week, “...there’s a common understanding by most of the General Assembly that they’re not going to be able to build in the city of Chicago.”

It's a dead dog they need to let lie. The reason is the Bears are not going to wait for a project of that magnitude to get off the ground, develop. It takes too long.

City politicians have failed to grasp all along how time is of the essence. The alarm already went off on them a long time ago. Bears owner George McCaskey has made this clear.

If the city politicians attempt to revive this idea when the legislature meets again next week instead of working to pass the Arlington Heights project, they will be responsible for sending the Bears straight over the border to Wolf Lake in Hammond, Ind. The Bears won't wait.

The state of Indiana realizes the urgency involved. Costs just keep getting higher the longer the project is delayed.

They've already passed funding for the Bears stadium and it's virtually awaiting approval by the Bears. They still need to address a few local tax issues and the ecological testing necessary for a stadium at the Wolf Lake site, but they're on the 5-yard line while Illinois is back on the 30 or 40.

Trying to ram a Chicago proposal through for a new stadium and transportation project is likely to require delaying months to years before the actual construction can begin. In that case, the stadium gets pushed back across the 50.

Because there are so many delusional Chicago politicians involved, it's very possible they could get the legislature bogged down on this boondoggle idea instead of the one they're closer to finishing at Arlington Park. In that case, Indiana wins.

The Illinois legislature needs to get a grasp on this situation because they're extremely close to losing an NFL team to another state due to their own stupidity and obstinance, as well as that of Chicago politicians.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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