CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson isn’t saying “no” to helping the White Sox build a ballpark in the South Loop.
The Sox have been floating the idea of leaving their longtime home at Guaranteed Rate Field in Bridgeport to develop ritzier digs at The 78 in the South Loop. While some neighbors and Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) have expressed concerns about the plan, Mayor Brandon Johnson indicated Wednesday the city might be willing to help.
During a post-City Council news conference, Johnson said he is receptive to the idea of using tax revenue to subsidize a new stadium for the team at The 78.
“As far as public dollars, we haven’t gotten into any of those specifics just yet,” Johnson said. “But I will say that we’re gonna explore all options. … Everything is on the table here. But again, I want to make sure that there’s a real commitment to public use and public benefit.”
The mayor’s comments came one day after Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf went to Springfield to begin pitching his case for $1.2 billion in public funding for the proposed ballpark.
When Johnson was asked why he’s open to using public subsidies to build the stadium, which could include TIF funds, he said there’s no guarantee the sports franchise will get any public funding.
“There’s no guarantee that they’ll get it from the city,” Johnson said. “What I’ve said repeatedly is that we need to make sure that our investments have real public benefit and that there has to be a commitment to public use. Those conversations are being had, and there are some promising developments that eventually we’ll be able to talk about out loud.”
The mayor’s comments came minutes after he defended his $1.25 billion development and affordable housing proposal, which hinges on millions of dollars from nearly 50 expiring TIF districts across the city.
Plans to move the team to the South Loop were revealed last month when the Sun-Times reported the Sox were negotiating with developer Related Midwest about building on the The 78.
The site at Roosevelt and Clark is 62 acres, stretching south to 16th Street. The land was previously a semi-finalist for Chicago’s first casino location, but it lost to Bally’s casino proposal at the Tribune’s Freedom Center.
It isn’t the first time the White Sox have considered leaving Bridgeport, but the plans are advanced enough that developer Related Midwest — which owns the 78 — has released renderings of what the Sox stadium could look like. Renderings show the ballpark along the South Branch of the Chicago River, surrounded by new buildings with the skyline visible beyond the outfield.
A move to the South Loop would complicate the White Sox’s relationship to Bridgeport, the neighborhood the team has called home for over a century. Some local leaders are hoping the team reconsiders, while business owners and fans say they have mixed feelings about the plan.
Lee, a lifelong Sox fan whose ward includes Guaranteed Rate Field, said she’s committed to finding a “viable alternative to what the 78 is painting for the White Sox to keep them at 35th Street.”
“Those are really nice drawings … and compared to what we have today, I understand the desire to have that and not what we currently have,” Lee told Block Club. “I think it’s incumbent upon us leaders that are down here on the South Side to really put some thought and work into providing the White Sox with another option of staying in their ancestral home.”
Lee said she sees 35th Street as “just as much a blank slate as the 78,” and she’s open to all ideas from neighbors about how the area could be built up more.
Other longtime Sox fans expressed shock at the prospect of the team departing the neighborhood, with the club and ballpark very much baked into Bridgeport’s identity.
“This was the home of the White Sox my whole life. As kids, we used to just walk across the park and go to every game for next to nothing,” said Carrie Stegmiller, manager of Turtle’s Bar and Grill on 33rd Street. “We consider the White Sox like family. We know all the workers there, we know the people who own businesses at the White Sox. It kind of sounds horrible for them to be gone.”
The White Sox have played in Bridgeport since 1910, starting at the beloved Comiskey Park and eventually moving to a larger stadium across the street in 1991, also dubbed Comiskey Park.
The old Comiskey was demolished and now is a parking lot — with the old home plate location marked for nostalgic fans. The current, $137 million ballpark took two years to build and was financed in part by a Chicago hotel tax increase to support the newly formed Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns the stadium.
The deal to build the park was forged in 1988 after Gov. Jim Thompson stopped the end-of-session legislative clock to get a deal approved to stop owner Jerry Reinsdorf from moving the Sox to St. Petersburg, Florida, where construction of a domed stadium was already underway. That stadium, with no Major League team agreeing to be a tenant, opened in 1990 as the Florida Suncoast Dome. It was renamed Tropicana Field as part of a deal with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who started playing in 1998.
The new White Sox ballpark, while initially lauded, soon became seen as outdated as retro-themed stadiums began being built around the country.
The ballpark has since been renovated, including the 2004 removal of eight top rows from the upper deck, changing the color of the seats from blue to green and adding a bar and restaurant across the street. It was rebranded U.S. Cellular Field in 2003 and then Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016.
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