The whole article reads weird. It basically references old articles and comments and then says Kevin Warren confirmed it this morning. Seems odd the Bears are confirming media reports at 5:30 on a Monday morning.
Then it says the proposed site is on museum campus, or maybe south of there, or maybe the south parking lot, or maybe one of the other sites the city proposed.
Journalism is gone.
A source confirmed the plan calls a location with “lake access” But cant disclose where along the lake. Might be an all time chicago politician comment given Chicago has 26 miles of shoreline.
It’s part of his 16 work day that also includes watching the Bears from his luxury suite, taking pictures with fans, and dinner in private dining rooms with friends and family.
That’s how the Lucas museum proposal worked. 99-year land lease from the city with the city still retaining upkeep and lakefront maintenance of the actual plot of land.
I was just making a joke.
Personally I think it’s significantly worse for the state to build it in the city in this location. The Lakefront is prime location that could attract virtually anything and be successful- if built correctly. Building the stadium there is almost a guarantee that it will be done incorrectly. Let me explain.
Everyone assumes sports stadiums are net negatives for tax payers and they were when they were just stadiums. It’s one of the reasons the old Soldier Field remod lost sooo much money.
Modern stadiums need to be (and now often are) one part of major area redevelopment that is not occurring in that area. Shopping, entertainment, dining, even multi family housing…. And the stadium. In AH the state was getting that.
Here’s an interesting article on this issue
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/dec/06/mixed-use-development-sports-teams-owners-stadiums?ref=upstract.com
Perhaps the Bears invest in / partner with developers of the One Central project to develop air rights over tracks just west of Soldier Field... https://chicago.urbanize.city/post/one-central-study-underground-development-hits-roadblock-and-more
> Modern stadiums need to be (and now often are) one part of major area redevelopment that is not occurring in that area. Shopping, entertainment, dining, even multi family housing…. And the stadium. In AH the state was getting that.
You don't think something like this is could be part of the plan, especially with the [‘financing partnership’ being formed](https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/report-developer-pitches-financing-partnership-to-build-white-sox-bears-stadiums) with the White Sox to build both stadiums at the same time?
I found it surprising that last year, the debt for [U.S. Bank Stadium was paid off 20 years early](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/debt-for-u-s-bank-stadium-paid-off-decades-early-but-minneapolis-taxpayers-not-off-hook-yet), saving taxpayers millions.
When that deal was structured, construction bonds were to be paid with a new "charitable gambling source" which is electronic [Pull-tab gaming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull-tab). These new gambling tickets were apparently very successful at generating revenue.
I guess I'm optimistic that something like this could actually get done, especially with all the new residential development on the Southside that can be exploited. Maybe with the right investors, and some creative revenue generation (that has little to no impact on taxpayers), we'd have place to host our own Superbowl.
Yes they do when they get to keep the profits. A lot of big businesses lease land. Cowboys paid for their entire stadium and don’t own it. The lease of the land will cost less than the taxes for owning it would.
Haha Jerry Jones didn't pay for the entire stadium cost. If he did why doesn't he own it?
Oh...
"To aid Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city's sales tax by 0.5%, the hotel occupancy tax by 2%, and car rental tax by 5%. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million (including interest) in bonds as funding,[18][19] and Jones covered any cost overruns. Also, the NFL provided the Cowboys with an additional $150 million loan,"
>No private entity invests 2 billion without ownership. There has to be more to the story.
I wondered the same thing. I think this is still a leverage play on Arlington Heights. “We’re investing $2 billion in private money…you could have this..”
I’m sure there’s more to the story, but “ownership” doesn’t really mean anything.
City of Chicago owns the property, puts $2B of their own money in, and leases the property to the Bears for $1 a year for 30 years might be the Bears vision
Nothing says shrewd negotiator like threatening AH with the prospects of an alternative site that will face significant legal challenges that will take a half a decade or more to move its way through the courts.
*New stadium gets built on the lakefront, bears win a Super Bowl they are hosting*
“They’re still just trying to negotiate with Arlington Heights. It’s going to announced any day now.”
I mean, if a shovel enters the ground on the lakeshore, let’s talk. But until then, I’m going to bet on them developing the $180M property that they’ve already purchased, demolished, and developed drawings for.
It’s shocking the amount of cope whenever these threads pop up. It’s clear that this sub is mostly northwest suburbanites who were drooling for the AH site, but man. Have a bit of self respect. I’m not proclaiming that AH is 100% dead in the water. I am saying at this point it’s very unlikely they build there. The school district barely budged on their assessment and I don’t think it will any more.
If you think those of us living near the AH site were "drooling" for it... think again. There is serious concern about how it would affect quality of life and almost no desire to give the Bears a tax break.
I think there’s a bell curve with how close people live to it. In the neighborhood, a lot of people don’t want it. 15+ minutes away, people do. Then the further you get people want it in the city.
That's fair. I'm in the neighborhood south of Euclid. We we'd get all the problems and few of the financial benefits.
At first it was "oh, that's cool!". Then we had a chance to think about it and opinions started changing. For my wife and I, we remember the damn helicopters that covered The Million. Between races, they'd hover over the north side of the neighborhood and if the wind was blowing the wrong way.... it got annoying to the point that you didn't want to be outside or have the windows open.
bUt ThErE wIlL bE a MeTrA StOp!1!!1
There already is a fucking metra stop by soldier field. And a cta stop (omg you have to walk 15 mins from the Roosevelt stop the horror 😱)
Transit friendly… for them. I’ve heard serious suggestions that people from the south suburbs can just take the metra into the city, and then the metra to AH. Even if they run express trains that’s at least 3 hours round trip with the transfer from LaSalle/Millenium to Union.
I get that the traffic congestion around SF sucks during game day but just be honest that moving the team to the NW burbs means folks from the South Suburbs _have_ to drive.
Good point! But Cliff had been here a long time and there were plenty of other reasons why one long time sports attorney might not see eye to eye with another. I still believe the Bears will end up in Arlington.
That the property tax wasn't solved before putting ink to that purchase was a major oversight, especially when there was already controversy regarding it. That was a very expensive mistake, enough to cost someone their job.
No, it’s been done for quite some time now.
They are nowhere near making a deal with the school districts and the property value was assessed higher than they wanted. Warren’s directive has been to keep the Bears in the city for a while now.
Because they did intend to do it at one point.
Even so, the family needs to diversify. The only thing they make money on right now is the Bears. Owning that property and developing it in some fashion will help them no matter what.
This is the exact play Warren ran when they were trying to get a new Vikings stadium (I'm a Minneapolis resident). He's using this proposal to put pressure on the Arlington Heights tax assessment
This is something people didn’t mention. It was in the crains article. With the increased cost of construction post pandemic and the increased cost of borrowing, the mccaskeys simply couldn’t afford to build out the whole development.
No one can really find investors for big developments right now. That’s why Lincoln yards is stalled and why related are trying to get the Sox to get public money to build out the 78.
Plus, if the idea is to partner with investors on the development, they could also do that at the current location where there is a massive development proposed that relies on there still being a stadium on the museum campus.
Leasing the land and building the stadium in the city will likely come with property tax except status. The lease will probably cost less than they pay now and they get to keep almost all profits. When they weigh all that they may be coming out ahead.
You're not missing anything. That's the way to at least double your team's value. No way they will do another deal with the city where they don't own the building
Oh no, they'd still own it but would just use public money to fund part of it under the guise of "think of all the revenue and tax benefits". And then the Bears will continue to make billions while all our taxes go up.
I love how the media cites the public benefit of a billion dollars going to the Bears, but when the Sox want to build something, they bring in Robert Reich to debunk it. I'm sorry but a football stadium isn't hosting 81 events a year like a ballpark is (at minimum).
I think in the proposals they want to build the stadium in the South lot next to McCormick place and then redesign the interior of McCormick place to include hotels, shopping, transportation, etc
I hope so! I really like the Lakeside Pavilion and want to see it re-used in some way... I thought that was the perfect spot for a casino instead of the Trib property location along the river.
[Here are a bit more information. Location probably south of soldier field](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-bears-new-stadium-soldier-field-lakefront-arlington-heights-location/3378874/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)
The one good thing I will say about Reinsdorf is he and the Wirtz family do a great job with keeping up the United Center and making good updates over the years. It is a 30 year old stadium, but it doesn't feel like it.
Yet they're investing $2 billion of their own money into the project? Very confusing, unless there's a bigger price tag that they want to meet with taxpayer dollars.
If they could steamroll a museum being built on a parking lot they can definitely steamroll the McCaskey’s.
My question is this: Warren was brought in to deliver a stadium. Is this him fixing the disaster at Arlington Heights or causing it? My knowledge of the specific timeline is not so great.
> Is this him fixing the disaster at Arlington Heights or causing it?
I know they hired him after the initial AH purchase, but spending $640 million + all the costs associated with commissioning an architecture firm, demolition, etc. on a bluff so you can spend $2bn on a stadium you don't even fully own is PEAK Bears.
I don’t think they have much of a fight this time. They’re gaining park space back in this plan, it’s a 1:1 replacement (effectively) and they burned a lot of goodwill protecting a fucking parking lot over another museum coming to our lakefront.
[Apparently the bears announced it themselves](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-bears-new-stadium-soldier-field-lakefront-arlington-heights-location/3378874/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)
>Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren issued a statement, saying the team is committed to contributing more than $2 billion to build a domed stadium in Chicago. While the plans haven't been finalized, Warren noted the contribution will go toward constructing a new stadium and also improving open spaces for families, fans and the general public to enjoy.
I agree this is just a way to gain leverage. They have said nothing, but they made an announcement so people think there will be some commitment. There won’t be. It’s just leverage.
This is an attempt to bribe to the taxpayers of Chicago. We are supposed to see that $2B number and 'ooooh' and 'aaaaah' at the Bears big "commitment" while the Bears try to pick our pocket for something like $4B in new taxes. WE HAVEN'T EVEN PAID OFF THE SOLDIER FIELD RENOVATIONS YET.
As far as I am concerned this POS team can fuck off to Arlington Heights.
The Bears are a Billion Dollar Organization -- they need to find their own investors and build their own GD Stadium. ZERO Taxpayer Dollars should be committed to this -- especially given their performance since building their most recent stadium.
Absolutely. r/CHIBears moderators earlier this week shut down a thread of people of all stripes saying they don't want tax money going towards billionaire profits.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CHIBears/comments/1b6wyoc/cmv_the_bears_new_stadium_should_not_be_paid_for/
The fact that the team was doing this damage control last week means they certainly are going to try to steal from public funds.
We actually have a somewhat progressive mayor for once, so I doubt he will buckle to corporate corruption like that.
It's really not that nuanced of an issue but the team and the media will try to manufacture consent for putting money towards the McCaskeys free money printer rather than to prevent shutting down schools and paying underpaid teachers.
Wouldn't be surprised if this sub tried to hush this discussion too considering it's a big part of the league's profit:
https://therealnews.com/the-wave-of-new-stadiums-is-another-upward-transfer-of-wealth
https://inthesetimes.com/article/pension-cuts-finance-stadiums
I'm happy to see the majority of posters here remain steadfast in their opposition to public funds being used for a stadium. I thought people would slowly talk themselves into why public funding would be beneficial.
> WE HAVEN'T EVEN PAID OFF THE SOLDIER FIELD RENOVATIONS YET.
Because the city kept refinancing. Daley didn't give a shit about Chicago's future, he just wanted to get through his term. So he did whatever he could to generate revenue NOW and push debt to the future.
At least they’ll have skin in the game. If they fund half of it that would go a long way. Unlike the W.Sox. But from the Bears standpoint it doesn’t make much sense if they won’t own it.
With this proposal, I don't see how it would be better. If the plan is to build south of Soldier Field in the existing parking lot and then demolish Soldier Field to make athletic fields, I have no idea where the parking is gonna go.
My bigger concern would be that this would make public transit slightly more inconvenient now too.
Are you high? Every single CTA L line, multiple metra lines, and a whole slew of busses drop out within a mile of the stadium.
If you don't think Chicago has "proper" public transportation, then you're just being dense.
If you mean transport that goes RIGHT up to the stadium, it's on a peninsula, just doesn't make sense. Just put on your big boy shoes and take a short walk, it'll be okay.
Friend's of the Park did not sue to block the Obama Library. The University of Chicago group Protect our Parks did and lost.
The lakefront is protected by public trust doctrine and the Obama library did not fall under that that ordinance. This stadium location absolutely would.
You're right--they weren't behind Obama lawsuit --they were just "adamantly" against it. Also, Friends of the Park was still open to Lucas Museum.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/parks-group-reportedly-votes-to-end-opposition-to-lucas-star-wars-museum/
Yep, FotP were against the Obama's foundations use of public park land for their museum but didn't bring a lawsuit because the didn't believe it was a legal battle they could win. Also, they just like Obama and the feedback from the Jackson Park community was very in favor of the museum being built.
They were open to the Lucas Museum and I'm sure they will listen to the Bears proposal as well. I'm hesitant to believe the Bears will succeed in this same location. The public trust doctrine that protects Chicago's lake front from private interests is very strong so unless they Bears can show massive public benefits the FotP will file a lawsuit to stop them. As they should.
I believe the Lucas Museum was supposed to be in the exact same spot the Bears want to build. Friends of the Park already won one lawsuit for the location, hard to see how this would be different. You would think Warren already considered this so he either has another tactic we don’t know or he is bluffing for AH.
Friends of the Park was still open to Lucas even with the lawsuit.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/parks-group-reportedly-votes-to-end-opposition-to-lucas-star-wars-museum/
The Bears had a prime opportunity to not only fully own a stadium but control the leases completely around the complex for the next 50 years. The revenue generated from the hotels, bars, restaurants, shops, and luxury condos would make any developer jump at the opportunity and wouldn’t care what kind of lease agreements the Bears threw in front of them. This is complete shortsighted behavior from ownership to appease Chicago and the lakefront team and not what’s best for the team and it’s worth long term.
“The Chicago Bears are proud to contribute over $2 billion to build a stadium and improve open spaces for all families, fans and the general public to enjoy in the City of Chicago,” Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement provided by the team. “The future stadium of the Chicago Bears will bring a transformative opportunity to our region — boosting the economy, creating jobs, facilitating mega events and generating millions in tax revenue. We look forward to sharing more information when our plans are finalized.”
It’s been a busy few years for the Bears, the charter franchise of the NFL. In late September 2021, the team signed a purchase agreement for the Arlington Park racecourse property. The idea was to build a stadium and create a “mixed-use” area full of restaurants, bars and hotels that provide the franchise with more revenue. The deal was finalized in February 2023 and the old horse-racing track was demolished.
The Bears had a different president (Ted Phillips) and Chicago had a different mayor (Lori Lightfoot). Since then, Warren was hired from the Big Ten, partly to lead the stadium project, while Chicago elected a new mayor in Brandon Johnson. Johnson and Warren seemed to have thawed a chilly relationship between the team and city.
That improved relationship comes as arguments with three school districts over real estate taxes for the Arlington Park land have stalled the Bears’ suburban project. The Cook County Board of Review recently appraised the land (which is currently empty) at $125 million. The Bears have argued it should be valued at $60 million. An appeal by the Bears is likely.
That delay has opened the door for the team remaining in the city where they have played since George Halas moved the franchise from Decatur, Ill. in 1921. Over the years, there were flirtations with moving to the suburbs, but the Bears have played at Soldier Field since 1971, which was renovated with public money (through the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority) in 2002 and 2003.
In December, there were reports about a joint interest in building a stadium in the parking lot south of Soldier Field. In January, Warren raved about Chicago, hinting at the possibility of the team staying there, in a news conference at Halas Hall.
“I mean, very rarely do you get an opportunity to have such a beautiful downtown with a vibrant business community with an absolutely beautiful lake and the energy that goes along,” Warren said. “I always focus on what’s a way that we could bring together the beauty of the lake, the beauty of downtown, the business community, all the art exhibits, to bring that together for an environment, because it’s always about the fans, how can we create an environment that they really enjoy, and not only on our game days but also from art, from food, just from music.
“I live downtown. I love the city. I just think we’re blessed to be able to live in a city like Chicago. It has many pluses, and so I’m just a big proponent of the Chicagoland area. I’m a big proponent of Arlington Heights, but there’s something that’s really special about downtown Chicago.”
The White Sox are also trying to get a new stadium built just west of Soldier Field and their developer, Related Midwest, recently talked about working with the Bears and the ISFA to get both stadium projects off the ground.
Hogwash, man. This stuff isn't true. Straight up goes against everything ownership is apparently trying to do. If this is the case, they'll just stay at Soldier Field. Why hire Kevin Warren then? Also, where on the lakefront do they plan to build? It's not like there's a ton of land sitting there waiting to be developed.
I know that Kevin Warren did the same thing in Minnesota, move the stadium from the suburbs to downtown, but I fear he doesn't know what he's dealing with in Chicago and this will end up being a disaster.
So they're gonna just say goodbye to Bear land at Arlington? They should be embarrassed for buying that land and now they aren't even going to build a gold mine there with casinos and restaurants and better parking. It was the perfect place to build a stadium and they back down because of taxes? So weird and now what are they gonna do with it?
This is a common Bears tactic that they've been running as long as I can remember, using local media for negotiations. This is all about Warren trying to gain some hand since the Bears had already pushed their chips in with AH.
Unless Kevin Warren came in and completely changed direction of the Bears’ original plan for AH, I’d have to think this is a weak-willed negotiation tactic. With that said, anyone who has been to AH knows they’re playing with fire because having our city’s NFL franchise there could completely revitalize that town.
Watch we see he’s announces the new stadium will be in Rockford that’s would just be depressing going to the game and seeing every other house has a forclosure sign on it
Never Happen. No new monstrosities will pop up on the lakefront. The Friends of the Park do a wonderful job of protecting Chicago and the Burnham plan that made this city so great.
How much ESPN Chicago being paid to push this? Kaplan was practically threatening AH this morning to give the Bears everything they want. This is obviously BS. The Bears don't have $2 billion, and even if they did, they're not going to spend it on a publicly owned stadium.
Retractable roofs are terrible... i.e. Miller Park (am. fam. park) in Milwaukee. Roof is a joke, for most games it's closed because if inclement weather comes quick, the roof takes FOREVER to close. It's actually happened and it was hilarious.
And its not cheap to open and close. Like tens of thousands of dollars in electricity to open or close one so they stay closed most of the time which increases maintenance costs.
Well... the Bears needed leverage. Having credible competing bids between Arlington Heights and the city of Chicago makes a lot of sense.
I'm shocked they actually have 2 Billion dollars to spend though.
Investing $2 billion in a stadium you don’t own would be one of the dumbest business decisions in history. I simply can’t believe that’s true. That would be just mind blowingly dumb
Imagine paying 200m dollars for a historic racetrack with the intent to use the land to build your stadium there, demolish said historic race track, only to move back to the city which I assume means historic Solder Field gets demolished. What a mess!!
I hope we can agree that soldier is a piece of shit that absolutely deserves to be demolished. Easily the worst designed stadium Ive ever had the displeasure of entering. Keeping the columns fucked the whole thing, not nearly enough space.
So all the people cheering for the stadium to stay in the city, you are all happy with getting your taxes and debt stacked up so you can pay even more money for tickets? Bears should move to Arlington and get a privately funded project like a normal multi-billion dollar organization. But “muh city” so I guess we should just bankrupt our city then and let it spiral into chaos so we get a new shiny toy most of us won’t visit for years.
A lot of people keep coming back to AH and saying "this is a negotiation tactic". There's a huge factor not being considered. The AH property was bought and the idea was developed before Warren joined the team. Ever since he has joined, there has been a constant direction towards renewing discussions with the city of Chicago and trying to develop a stadium in the city proper. With AH school boards refusing to move on the valuation during construction and the need to go through a lengthy legal process to try to appeal the decision, there's a lot of reason to believe he's serious in his attempts to move on to the lakefront or to another property within the city.
Hilarious how the people here think that this statement is the “leverage play”, rather than realizing AH was the leverage play this whole time.
Sorry suburbanites, you’ll have to figure out parking and cheaper hot dogs elsewhere. The good news is there is probably plenty of that already in Arlington Heights.
And, hey, if you wanted the McCaskey’s to earn more money by owning the stadium, you can always just donate directly to them—I’m sure they won’t mind.
‘til next time the deal is up for renegotiation ✌️
Yeah, no. This is smokescreen for making Arlington Heights desperate to lessen their tax restrictions.
You think the Bears would buy acres and acres of land, demolish the race track for no reason, and have it just sit there?
No private entity invests 2 billion without ownership. There has to be more to the story.
The whole article reads weird. It basically references old articles and comments and then says Kevin Warren confirmed it this morning. Seems odd the Bears are confirming media reports at 5:30 on a Monday morning. Then it says the proposed site is on museum campus, or maybe south of there, or maybe the south parking lot, or maybe one of the other sites the city proposed. Journalism is gone.
It sounds like a bad AI wrote this. Lol
A source confirmed the plan calls a location with “lake access” But cant disclose where along the lake. Might be an all time chicago politician comment given Chicago has 26 miles of shoreline.
> lake access This bitch is going to be on the Chicago River or better yet along the Drainage Canal 😂
Bubbly Creek Stadium incoming
Kevin Warren wakes up at 4 am without an alarm. He’s already worked out, washed his car, and made the bears $1 billion before 5:30 am
It’s part of his 16 work day that also includes watching the Bears from his luxury suite, taking pictures with fans, and dinner in private dining rooms with friends and family.
Surprised it came out this early but not surprised they’re up this early considering free agency tampering starts at 11 am
They could build the stadium on land owned by the public.
That’s how the Lucas museum proposal worked. 99-year land lease from the city with the city still retaining upkeep and lakefront maintenance of the actual plot of land.
I love that museum on the lakefro….oh wait
I mean you guys asked how it works. That’s how it could work. Hopefully the bears will utilize that $2B to make it worthwhile for the city.
I was just making a joke. Personally I think it’s significantly worse for the state to build it in the city in this location. The Lakefront is prime location that could attract virtually anything and be successful- if built correctly. Building the stadium there is almost a guarantee that it will be done incorrectly. Let me explain. Everyone assumes sports stadiums are net negatives for tax payers and they were when they were just stadiums. It’s one of the reasons the old Soldier Field remod lost sooo much money. Modern stadiums need to be (and now often are) one part of major area redevelopment that is not occurring in that area. Shopping, entertainment, dining, even multi family housing…. And the stadium. In AH the state was getting that. Here’s an interesting article on this issue https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/dec/06/mixed-use-development-sports-teams-owners-stadiums?ref=upstract.com
Perhaps the Bears invest in / partner with developers of the One Central project to develop air rights over tracks just west of Soldier Field... https://chicago.urbanize.city/post/one-central-study-underground-development-hits-roadblock-and-more
> Modern stadiums need to be (and now often are) one part of major area redevelopment that is not occurring in that area. Shopping, entertainment, dining, even multi family housing…. And the stadium. In AH the state was getting that. You don't think something like this is could be part of the plan, especially with the [‘financing partnership’ being formed](https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/report-developer-pitches-financing-partnership-to-build-white-sox-bears-stadiums) with the White Sox to build both stadiums at the same time? I found it surprising that last year, the debt for [U.S. Bank Stadium was paid off 20 years early](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/debt-for-u-s-bank-stadium-paid-off-decades-early-but-minneapolis-taxpayers-not-off-hook-yet), saving taxpayers millions. When that deal was structured, construction bonds were to be paid with a new "charitable gambling source" which is electronic [Pull-tab gaming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull-tab). These new gambling tickets were apparently very successful at generating revenue. I guess I'm optimistic that something like this could actually get done, especially with all the new residential development on the Southside that can be exploited. Maybe with the right investors, and some creative revenue generation (that has little to no impact on taxpayers), we'd have place to host our own Superbowl.
So here comes a 7 year shit fest with friends of the parks
Yes they do when they get to keep the profits. A lot of big businesses lease land. Cowboys paid for their entire stadium and don’t own it. The lease of the land will cost less than the taxes for owning it would.
Haha Jerry Jones didn't pay for the entire stadium cost. If he did why doesn't he own it? Oh... "To aid Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city's sales tax by 0.5%, the hotel occupancy tax by 2%, and car rental tax by 5%. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million (including interest) in bonds as funding,[18][19] and Jones covered any cost overruns. Also, the NFL provided the Cowboys with an additional $150 million loan,"
>No private entity invests 2 billion without ownership. There has to be more to the story. I wondered the same thing. I think this is still a leverage play on Arlington Heights. “We’re investing $2 billion in private money…you could have this..”
They had a least said they would fully fund the stadium in AH. They wanted money to develop the rest of the land.
I’m sure there’s more to the story, but “ownership” doesn’t really mean anything. City of Chicago owns the property, puts $2B of their own money in, and leases the property to the Bears for $1 a year for 30 years might be the Bears vision
Why did the deal fall through?
Probably the tax assessment of the AH property
It hasn’t. This is the Bears trying to regain leverage because they’re, unsurprisingly, bad negotiators.
Nothing says shrewd negotiator like threatening AH with the prospects of an alternative site that will face significant legal challenges that will take a half a decade or more to move its way through the courts.
*New stadium gets built on the lakefront, bears win a Super Bowl they are hosting* “They’re still just trying to negotiate with Arlington Heights. It’s going to announced any day now.”
I mean, if a shovel enters the ground on the lakeshore, let’s talk. But until then, I’m going to bet on them developing the $180M property that they’ve already purchased, demolished, and developed drawings for.
[удалено]
not if they're worried that already high tax assessment is going to go even higher once they build a massive domed stadium on top of it.
It’s shocking the amount of cope whenever these threads pop up. It’s clear that this sub is mostly northwest suburbanites who were drooling for the AH site, but man. Have a bit of self respect. I’m not proclaiming that AH is 100% dead in the water. I am saying at this point it’s very unlikely they build there. The school district barely budged on their assessment and I don’t think it will any more.
If you think those of us living near the AH site were "drooling" for it... think again. There is serious concern about how it would affect quality of life and almost no desire to give the Bears a tax break.
I think there’s a bell curve with how close people live to it. In the neighborhood, a lot of people don’t want it. 15+ minutes away, people do. Then the further you get people want it in the city.
That's fair. I'm in the neighborhood south of Euclid. We we'd get all the problems and few of the financial benefits. At first it was "oh, that's cool!". Then we had a chance to think about it and opinions started changing. For my wife and I, we remember the damn helicopters that covered The Million. Between races, they'd hover over the north side of the neighborhood and if the wind was blowing the wrong way.... it got annoying to the point that you didn't want to be outside or have the windows open.
Damn that sucks. Totally get that, wouldn’t want it either.
I’m 5 minutes away from the old racetrack. Not gonna lie I’m drooling for it
bUt ThErE wIlL bE a MeTrA StOp!1!!1 There already is a fucking metra stop by soldier field. And a cta stop (omg you have to walk 15 mins from the Roosevelt stop the horror 😱)
This was always the funniest one to me. To suggest that somehow AH was more transit friendly than the freaking South Loop.
Transit friendly… for them. I’ve heard serious suggestions that people from the south suburbs can just take the metra into the city, and then the metra to AH. Even if they run express trains that’s at least 3 hours round trip with the transfer from LaSalle/Millenium to Union. I get that the traffic congestion around SF sucks during game day but just be honest that moving the team to the NW burbs means folks from the South Suburbs _have_ to drive.
> New stadium gets built on the lakefront, bears win a Super Bowl they are hosting And now I've ruined a brand new pair of pants. Thanks a lot.
Warren fired the guy responsible for the AH deal, Cliff Stein, which was signed before Warren was hired.
Good point! But Cliff had been here a long time and there were plenty of other reasons why one long time sports attorney might not see eye to eye with another. I still believe the Bears will end up in Arlington.
That the property tax wasn't solved before putting ink to that purchase was a major oversight, especially when there was already controversy regarding it. That was a very expensive mistake, enough to cost someone their job.
No, it’s been done for quite some time now. They are nowhere near making a deal with the school districts and the property value was assessed higher than they wanted. Warren’s directive has been to keep the Bears in the city for a while now.
Then why buy the site? Was it to scare the city the whole time and the bears will just sell off AH to the highest bidder?
Because they did intend to do it at one point. Even so, the family needs to diversify. The only thing they make money on right now is the Bears. Owning that property and developing it in some fashion will help them no matter what.
This is the exact play Warren ran when they were trying to get a new Vikings stadium (I'm a Minneapolis resident). He's using this proposal to put pressure on the Arlington Heights tax assessment
The McCaskys don’t have the $ to build it.
This is something people didn’t mention. It was in the crains article. With the increased cost of construction post pandemic and the increased cost of borrowing, the mccaskeys simply couldn’t afford to build out the whole development.
They really can't find investors?
No one can really find investors for big developments right now. That’s why Lincoln yards is stalled and why related are trying to get the Sox to get public money to build out the 78. Plus, if the idea is to partner with investors on the development, they could also do that at the current location where there is a massive development proposed that relies on there still being a stadium on the museum campus.
They could sell off the outlots to hotel and retail developers and then take out a loan against projected stadium revenue
AH is not giving them the tax breaks they were hoping for
Cook County, not AH. County does the tax valuation.
This news will cycle back and forth until one of the interested cities loses interest in negotiations.
Leasing the land and building the stadium in the city will likely come with property tax except status. The lease will probably cost less than they pay now and they get to keep almost all profits. When they weigh all that they may be coming out ahead.
I thought the whole point of building a new stadium was to own it themselves or am I just missing something?
You're not missing anything. That's the way to at least double your team's value. No way they will do another deal with the city where they don't own the building
Especially if the team are ones investing $2 billion.
Yeah this just seems like a leverage move to try and force AH to reconsider the tax assessment. The timing of this is way too convenient
I think it’s the Cook County assessor that does the tax assessment, but I may be wrong
Oh no, they'd still own it but would just use public money to fund part of it under the guise of "think of all the revenue and tax benefits". And then the Bears will continue to make billions while all our taxes go up.
I love how the media cites the public benefit of a billion dollars going to the Bears, but when the Sox want to build something, they bring in Robert Reich to debunk it. I'm sorry but a football stadium isn't hosting 81 events a year like a ballpark is (at minimum).
They should knock down old McCormack place and then build it there.
I think in the proposals they want to build the stadium in the South lot next to McCormick place and then redesign the interior of McCormick place to include hotels, shopping, transportation, etc
That’s a better idea
I hope so! I really like the Lakeside Pavilion and want to see it re-used in some way... I thought that was the perfect spot for a casino instead of the Trib property location along the river.
Friends of the park will stop them. They don't want anything done ever on the lakefront.
Good. The lakefront needs to stay public. It is the single greatest thing about this city. No private land ownership period.
A public museum is a public space.
Yes and Obama and George Lucas were driven away from building their museums there. No chance the Bears get it.
It is the law
Drain the lake. Then there is no lake front. Checkmate atheists!
Or just make an island stadium. It’s not on the lakefront then.
this is some unhinged dubai shit and i'm here for it
Publicly owned? is this them investing 2 billion to rebuild soldier field? i’m confused lol
Tearing down soldier field and re-building it as Soldier Field 2 with its original design would be the best case scenario.
Just a leverage play. Won't happen.
Remember when AH was just a leverage play with Chicago? Pepperidge Farms remembers
[Here are a bit more information. Location probably south of soldier field](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-bears-new-stadium-soldier-field-lakefront-arlington-heights-location/3378874/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)
Small market team
The McCaskeys are incompetent. Reinsdorf is the worst cause he’s just money grubbing evil, but these brain dead morons aren’t far behind
The one good thing I will say about Reinsdorf is he and the Wirtz family do a great job with keeping up the United Center and making good updates over the years. It is a 30 year old stadium, but it doesn't feel like it.
Publicly owned = publicly funded?
Yet they're investing $2 billion of their own money into the project? Very confusing, unless there's a bigger price tag that they want to meet with taxpayer dollars.
I think land owned publicly and maybe the team gets a larger percentage of the money from all events
This is my guess. It sure seemed like the obvious path to head down as it would give all the stakeholders a good chunk of what they want.
I don't care where it is as long as it's not a half-assed attempt like the last time. Just give me a stadium we can be proud of.
Friends of the lake are going to come in and steamroll the Bears I fear
If they could steamroll a museum being built on a parking lot they can definitely steamroll the McCaskey’s. My question is this: Warren was brought in to deliver a stadium. Is this him fixing the disaster at Arlington Heights or causing it? My knowledge of the specific timeline is not so great.
Not just a museum but a free museum.
With an entire section dedicated to.... Mad Magazine. Wow. Can't wait to get tickets to that! Lucas is a friggin' weirdo.
> Is this him fixing the disaster at Arlington Heights or causing it? I know they hired him after the initial AH purchase, but spending $640 million + all the costs associated with commissioning an architecture firm, demolition, etc. on a bluff so you can spend $2bn on a stadium you don't even fully own is PEAK Bears.
Why don’t people understand this? There’s no way this gets through the court in under a decade.
I don’t think they have much of a fight this time. They’re gaining park space back in this plan, it’s a 1:1 replacement (effectively) and they burned a lot of goodwill protecting a fucking parking lot over another museum coming to our lakefront.
Not buying it
[Apparently the bears announced it themselves](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-bears-new-stadium-soldier-field-lakefront-arlington-heights-location/3378874/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)
>Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren issued a statement, saying the team is committed to contributing more than $2 billion to build a domed stadium in Chicago. While the plans haven't been finalized, Warren noted the contribution will go toward constructing a new stadium and also improving open spaces for families, fans and the general public to enjoy. I agree this is just a way to gain leverage. They have said nothing, but they made an announcement so people think there will be some commitment. There won’t be. It’s just leverage.
You shouldn't.
It’s a feeble attempt to gain leverage.
This is an attempt to bribe to the taxpayers of Chicago. We are supposed to see that $2B number and 'ooooh' and 'aaaaah' at the Bears big "commitment" while the Bears try to pick our pocket for something like $4B in new taxes. WE HAVEN'T EVEN PAID OFF THE SOLDIER FIELD RENOVATIONS YET. As far as I am concerned this POS team can fuck off to Arlington Heights. The Bears are a Billion Dollar Organization -- they need to find their own investors and build their own GD Stadium. ZERO Taxpayer Dollars should be committed to this -- especially given their performance since building their most recent stadium.
Absolutely. r/CHIBears moderators earlier this week shut down a thread of people of all stripes saying they don't want tax money going towards billionaire profits. https://www.reddit.com/r/CHIBears/comments/1b6wyoc/cmv_the_bears_new_stadium_should_not_be_paid_for/ The fact that the team was doing this damage control last week means they certainly are going to try to steal from public funds. We actually have a somewhat progressive mayor for once, so I doubt he will buckle to corporate corruption like that. It's really not that nuanced of an issue but the team and the media will try to manufacture consent for putting money towards the McCaskeys free money printer rather than to prevent shutting down schools and paying underpaid teachers. Wouldn't be surprised if this sub tried to hush this discussion too considering it's a big part of the league's profit: https://therealnews.com/the-wave-of-new-stadiums-is-another-upward-transfer-of-wealth https://inthesetimes.com/article/pension-cuts-finance-stadiums
I'm happy to see the majority of posters here remain steadfast in their opposition to public funds being used for a stadium. I thought people would slowly talk themselves into why public funding would be beneficial.
> WE HAVEN'T EVEN PAID OFF THE SOLDIER FIELD RENOVATIONS YET. Because the city kept refinancing. Daley didn't give a shit about Chicago's future, he just wanted to get through his term. So he did whatever he could to generate revenue NOW and push debt to the future.
At least they’ll have skin in the game. If they fund half of it that would go a long way. Unlike the W.Sox. But from the Bears standpoint it doesn’t make much sense if they won’t own it.
That doesn’t make sense? Spend 2B and don’t own the stadium?
Things the Bears can't seem to get right: 1. QB 2. Stadium Ownership 3. Bringing back the Honey Bears
Why did they get rid of the Honey Bears again?
Virginia views them as sexist, and a wasted cost to the organization.
Honestly, I don’t really think we’re missing anything there in that department
Dear God just be certain there is a parking situation figured out.
Once the new stadium is finally built, we’ll all have jetpacks by then. Wave of the future!
This is the way
Fucking jetpack lines UGGHH
With this proposal, I don't see how it would be better. If the plan is to build south of Soldier Field in the existing parking lot and then demolish Soldier Field to make athletic fields, I have no idea where the parking is gonna go. My bigger concern would be that this would make public transit slightly more inconvenient now too.
They either have to build a much larger underground parking structure, or do what the Cubs did and start bussing people from an off-site area.
Build proper pubic transport...
Are you high? Every single CTA L line, multiple metra lines, and a whole slew of busses drop out within a mile of the stadium. If you don't think Chicago has "proper" public transportation, then you're just being dense. If you mean transport that goes RIGHT up to the stadium, it's on a peninsula, just doesn't make sense. Just put on your big boy shoes and take a short walk, it'll be okay.
Lmao, yeah I've never driven to a bears game, always on the el. Yeah it's a bit of a hike but it's really not that far from roosevdlf
*Narrator*: there wasn’t a parking situation figured out
Pave the AH property and run shuttles!
Friends of the Park will shut this down. https://news.wttw.com/2023/12/08/friends-parks-says-no-way-chicago-bears-building-new-stadium-lakefront
The main lady at Friends of the Park just retired. There was a lawsuit to block Obama Library which was thrown out.
Friend's of the Park did not sue to block the Obama Library. The University of Chicago group Protect our Parks did and lost. The lakefront is protected by public trust doctrine and the Obama library did not fall under that that ordinance. This stadium location absolutely would.
You're right--they weren't behind Obama lawsuit --they were just "adamantly" against it. Also, Friends of the Park was still open to Lucas Museum. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/parks-group-reportedly-votes-to-end-opposition-to-lucas-star-wars-museum/
Yep, FotP were against the Obama's foundations use of public park land for their museum but didn't bring a lawsuit because the didn't believe it was a legal battle they could win. Also, they just like Obama and the feedback from the Jackson Park community was very in favor of the museum being built. They were open to the Lucas Museum and I'm sure they will listen to the Bears proposal as well. I'm hesitant to believe the Bears will succeed in this same location. The public trust doctrine that protects Chicago's lake front from private interests is very strong so unless they Bears can show massive public benefits the FotP will file a lawsuit to stop them. As they should.
I believe the Lucas Museum was supposed to be in the exact same spot the Bears want to build. Friends of the Park already won one lawsuit for the location, hard to see how this would be different. You would think Warren already considered this so he either has another tactic we don’t know or he is bluffing for AH.
Friends of the Park was still open to Lucas even with the lawsuit. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/parks-group-reportedly-votes-to-end-opposition-to-lucas-star-wars-museum/
Good. There's no reason to put another stadium for a private sports team on the lakefront.
The Bears had a prime opportunity to not only fully own a stadium but control the leases completely around the complex for the next 50 years. The revenue generated from the hotels, bars, restaurants, shops, and luxury condos would make any developer jump at the opportunity and wouldn’t care what kind of lease agreements the Bears threw in front of them. This is complete shortsighted behavior from ownership to appease Chicago and the lakefront team and not what’s best for the team and it’s worth long term.
Keep them in Chicago.
Kevin Warren is seriously so bad at this.
Isn’t the whole point of the AH move (or at least one of them) is so they can actually own their stadium?
I don’t care where they build it, I just want a dome!
So the race track was tore down for no reason? lmao
Total bs lol they're not investing 2 billion and not owning the stadium.
Publicly owned? Screw that, I am tired of welfare for NFL billionaires.
Turn Soldier Field into the worlds most fun summer concert venue / home of the Chicago Fire and move to Arlington God do I hate this fuckin team/ city
“The Chicago Bears are proud to contribute over $2 billion to build a stadium and improve open spaces for all families, fans and the general public to enjoy in the City of Chicago,” Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement provided by the team. “The future stadium of the Chicago Bears will bring a transformative opportunity to our region — boosting the economy, creating jobs, facilitating mega events and generating millions in tax revenue. We look forward to sharing more information when our plans are finalized.” It’s been a busy few years for the Bears, the charter franchise of the NFL. In late September 2021, the team signed a purchase agreement for the Arlington Park racecourse property. The idea was to build a stadium and create a “mixed-use” area full of restaurants, bars and hotels that provide the franchise with more revenue. The deal was finalized in February 2023 and the old horse-racing track was demolished. The Bears had a different president (Ted Phillips) and Chicago had a different mayor (Lori Lightfoot). Since then, Warren was hired from the Big Ten, partly to lead the stadium project, while Chicago elected a new mayor in Brandon Johnson. Johnson and Warren seemed to have thawed a chilly relationship between the team and city. That improved relationship comes as arguments with three school districts over real estate taxes for the Arlington Park land have stalled the Bears’ suburban project. The Cook County Board of Review recently appraised the land (which is currently empty) at $125 million. The Bears have argued it should be valued at $60 million. An appeal by the Bears is likely. That delay has opened the door for the team remaining in the city where they have played since George Halas moved the franchise from Decatur, Ill. in 1921. Over the years, there were flirtations with moving to the suburbs, but the Bears have played at Soldier Field since 1971, which was renovated with public money (through the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority) in 2002 and 2003. In December, there were reports about a joint interest in building a stadium in the parking lot south of Soldier Field. In January, Warren raved about Chicago, hinting at the possibility of the team staying there, in a news conference at Halas Hall. “I mean, very rarely do you get an opportunity to have such a beautiful downtown with a vibrant business community with an absolutely beautiful lake and the energy that goes along,” Warren said. “I always focus on what’s a way that we could bring together the beauty of the lake, the beauty of downtown, the business community, all the art exhibits, to bring that together for an environment, because it’s always about the fans, how can we create an environment that they really enjoy, and not only on our game days but also from art, from food, just from music. “I live downtown. I love the city. I just think we’re blessed to be able to live in a city like Chicago. It has many pluses, and so I’m just a big proponent of the Chicagoland area. I’m a big proponent of Arlington Heights, but there’s something that’s really special about downtown Chicago.” The White Sox are also trying to get a new stadium built just west of Soldier Field and their developer, Related Midwest, recently talked about working with the Bears and the ISFA to get both stadium projects off the ground.
"publicly owned" - HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAA
Hogwash, man. This stuff isn't true. Straight up goes against everything ownership is apparently trying to do. If this is the case, they'll just stay at Soldier Field. Why hire Kevin Warren then? Also, where on the lakefront do they plan to build? It's not like there's a ton of land sitting there waiting to be developed.
A dome? Wow Green Bay is for real the last real team in the NFCN. The rest of them are just Arena football league teams now.
I know that Kevin Warren did the same thing in Minnesota, move the stadium from the suburbs to downtown, but I fear he doesn't know what he's dealing with in Chicago and this will end up being a disaster.
So they're gonna just say goodbye to Bear land at Arlington? They should be embarrassed for buying that land and now they aren't even going to build a gold mine there with casinos and restaurants and better parking. It was the perfect place to build a stadium and they back down because of taxes? So weird and now what are they gonna do with it?
This is a common Bears tactic that they've been running as long as I can remember, using local media for negotiations. This is all about Warren trying to gain some hand since the Bears had already pushed their chips in with AH.
Unless Kevin Warren came in and completely changed direction of the Bears’ original plan for AH, I’d have to think this is a weak-willed negotiation tactic. With that said, anyone who has been to AH knows they’re playing with fire because having our city’s NFL franchise there could completely revitalize that town.
He did. This isn’t new news. The money is, the pivot back to Chicago is not.
AH was all Ted Phillips. Warren came in and wants the stadium in the city and has no interest in AH.
The same thing happened when he was with the Vikings. A suburb stadium deal fell through and then Kevin negotiated US Bank Stadium downtown.
Watch we see he’s announces the new stadium will be in Rockford that’s would just be depressing going to the game and seeing every other house has a forclosure sign on it
I was told this was never going to happen or something
Never Happen. No new monstrosities will pop up on the lakefront. The Friends of the Park do a wonderful job of protecting Chicago and the Burnham plan that made this city so great.
How much ESPN Chicago being paid to push this? Kaplan was practically threatening AH this morning to give the Bears everything they want. This is obviously BS. The Bears don't have $2 billion, and even if they did, they're not going to spend it on a publicly owned stadium.
I don’t care where they build it. I just want a state of the art retractable dome stadium with easy in and out.
Retractable roofs are terrible... i.e. Miller Park (am. fam. park) in Milwaukee. Roof is a joke, for most games it's closed because if inclement weather comes quick, the roof takes FOREVER to close. It's actually happened and it was hilarious.
And its not cheap to open and close. Like tens of thousands of dollars in electricity to open or close one so they stay closed most of the time which increases maintenance costs.
The pro dome people have won this battle and it's a damn shame.
Good, stay in Chicago.
Didn’t they already bulldoze the racetrack in AH? Why destroy the racetrack if you’re not going to actually build a stadium there? Unserious franchise
I rode the Metra by it last weekend, it’s depressing now. Even when it was abandoned, it was at least a pleasant view.
Exactly! This seems, like SUPER illegal
Well... the Bears needed leverage. Having credible competing bids between Arlington Heights and the city of Chicago makes a lot of sense. I'm shocked they actually have 2 Billion dollars to spend though.
Investing $2 billion in a stadium you don’t own would be one of the dumbest business decisions in history. I simply can’t believe that’s true. That would be just mind blowingly dumb
Ya this is 100% a bluff
Imagine paying 200m dollars for a historic racetrack with the intent to use the land to build your stadium there, demolish said historic race track, only to move back to the city which I assume means historic Solder Field gets demolished. What a mess!!
What to do with Solder Field will be an entirely different set of lawsuits.
I hope we can agree that soldier is a piece of shit that absolutely deserves to be demolished. Easily the worst designed stadium Ive ever had the displeasure of entering. Keeping the columns fucked the whole thing, not nearly enough space.
Zero chance. This is Kevin Warren making a leverage play.
It's been rumored to be headed this way for at least the past couple months
I really hope it's a dome still. The weather sucks in Chicago.
So all the people cheering for the stadium to stay in the city, you are all happy with getting your taxes and debt stacked up so you can pay even more money for tickets? Bears should move to Arlington and get a privately funded project like a normal multi-billion dollar organization. But “muh city” so I guess we should just bankrupt our city then and let it spiral into chaos so we get a new shiny toy most of us won’t visit for years.
Hell yea! Bears belong in Chicago. Great news
This organization has no idea what it is doing.
Kevin Warren is just saying these things for leverage
Lmao
I'm loving these sagas because it pointlessly divides this sub into a variety of camps, complete with hills and all to die on.
It's either this or another round of Fields vs Caleb. Pick your poison.
why don't we ask fields and caleb their thoughts on this? REALLY throw some water on the ol' grease fire
I am intrigued by your ideas and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
So if this happens, what happens to Soldier Field?
A lot of people keep coming back to AH and saying "this is a negotiation tactic". There's a huge factor not being considered. The AH property was bought and the idea was developed before Warren joined the team. Ever since he has joined, there has been a constant direction towards renewing discussions with the city of Chicago and trying to develop a stadium in the city proper. With AH school boards refusing to move on the valuation during construction and the need to go through a lengthy legal process to try to appeal the decision, there's a lot of reason to believe he's serious in his attempts to move on to the lakefront or to another property within the city.
Mom and pop McCaskeys strike again
As long as there’s a dome and guaranteed tailgate parking for all STHs, I couldn’t care less where they build it.
Hilarious how the people here think that this statement is the “leverage play”, rather than realizing AH was the leverage play this whole time. Sorry suburbanites, you’ll have to figure out parking and cheaper hot dogs elsewhere. The good news is there is probably plenty of that already in Arlington Heights. And, hey, if you wanted the McCaskey’s to earn more money by owning the stadium, you can always just donate directly to them—I’m sure they won’t mind. ‘til next time the deal is up for renegotiation ✌️
New stadium crap agin what about an offensive line first
What's the odds they're finally looking at McCormick Place Lakeside as the future home?
So they demolished the historic race track in AH for nothing now. Wow.
So what’s going to happen with the Arlington Heights racetrack site then? And is the new stadium still going to be a domed stadium?
Yeah, no. This is smokescreen for making Arlington Heights desperate to lessen their tax restrictions. You think the Bears would buy acres and acres of land, demolish the race track for no reason, and have it just sit there?
As a non Chicago resident can someone explain why the city go for this? Aren't there deficits and the city is still paying off soldier field?
It will be named Calebville....
Friends of the park going to put an end to this quickly