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Bears Seem to Soften with Arlington Heights Stadium Cutoff Point

Kevin Warren gave Mike Florio and Pro Football Talk his thoughts on when the Bears need to see legislation passed to help the Arlington Heights stadium get built.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears president Kevin Warren appreciates the Illinois legislative efforts for a new stadium at Arlington Heights, but how long can the team wait?
Bears president Kevin Warren appreciates the Illinois legislative efforts for a new stadium at Arlington Heights, but how long can the team wait? | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Bears are showing patience with the state of Illinois regarding the proposed Arlington Heights stadium.

Although needed legislation for tax stability and infrastructure seems bogged down in Springfield now, and there has been banter about the team setting the end of March as a deadline for committing to Hammond, Ind., Bears president Kevin Warren is giving Illinois more time.

Earlier this month Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia had said he thought the Bears would look to Indiana if no bill was passed by the end of March.

Speaking at the owners meetings in Arizona with Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and Chris Simms, Warren said the deadline hasn't yet been reached.

"They're still working on legislation and we have a wonderful piece of land in Arlington Heights, 326 acres," Warren said. 'And so we don't have a set deadline but I am confident that sometime this spring/summer we'll know.

"I mean, we have to know because we would have completed the due diligence in Indiana and we'll see what happens in Illinois."

The legislature is on break once again, and doesn't return until April 7. If Warren's cutoff is to be seriously treated, then it must be assumed May 31 is the cutoff because the spring legislative session ends at that point. The next session isn't until fall.

Warren made two things quite obvious and one was there will be no retreating to a site in Chicago, and that even without a deadline there is urgency for Illinois.

"The longer we wait, our costs go up about $150 million a year," he said.

A reason why they wouldn't build in Chicago after their initial consideration of the lakefront is what Arlington Heights gives them. It's their property and it's not just a stadium they're building.

"Surrounding mixed-use development is important," Warren said.

The Bears would essentially be building their own commerce neighborhood around the stadium in Arlington Heights. In Chicago, any of the past proposals made the Bears tenants in a lakefront stadium.

"We strongly believe the only site in the state of Illniois and Cook Co. is Arlington Heights," Warren said, adding that the train station and a stop right at the former racetrack, and other access points make it very easy for Bears fans.

Need the edge

What Warren said makes sense, and he can't come out and say one area is favored over the other.

It seems obvious from the fact they are waiting and willing to give the Illinois legislature some leeway that they are favoring Illinois. They can't wait forever.

This is where there is a problem in what Warren says. He shouldn't be positive toward Illinois in any way, shape or form, because Spingfield takes five minutes and turns it into five months, takes a year and turns it into a decade.

They'll delay and keep pushing things off into the future. The Chicago politicians will try to come up with unrealistic alternatives to retain the team from now until the cows come home. A hard deadline should be given publicly to the legislature.

Warren and George McCaskey have to keep their foot on the throat, so to speak. They need to take every opportunity to light a fire under politicians who specialize in stalling.

That end-of-May cutoff must be written in stone.

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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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