DOWNTOWN — The Chicago Bears’ latest pitch for a new stadium would keep the team on the lakefront — and have them dig up some of their own money for it.
The Bears’ latest proposal would build a domed stadium in the parking area just south of Solider Field using $2 billion in private money, according to the Sun-Times.
“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,” Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement. “We look forward to sharing more information when our plans are finalized.”
The new stadium would include more open space, public plazas that meet accessibility requirements, increased landscaping and greater access to the lakefront for fans, according to the Sun-Times.
The city and state would still be asked to foot the rest of the bill. It’s unclear what the total sticker price of the proposal would be, as the Bears continue to drum up support for a publicly funded stadium with the new legislative session underway in Springfield.
Solider Field — save for its historical colonnades and war memorial — would likely be torn down under the proposal, according to the Sun-Times.
Pinning hopes back on the lakefront marks a significant audible for the team, which has threatened for years to leave the city for suburban Arlington Heights.
The Bears finalized the purchase last year of Arlington International Racecourse from Churchill Downs for $197 million. Team officials said they’d develop the 326-acre site into a $5 billion entertainment district, anchored by a domed stadium of its own.
At the time, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot had pitched the team on a glass-domed renovation of Soldier Field, largely considered a Hail Mary proposal.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has since doubled down on a desire to keep the Bears within city limits, bucking the trend of NFL teams that have developed state-of-the-art super-sites in larger suburban pastures.
“I have said all along that meaningful private investment and a strong emphasis on public benefit are my requirements for public-private partnerships in our city. The Chicago Bears plans are a welcome step in that direction and a testament to Chicago’s economic vitality,” Johnson said in a statement Monday. “I look forward to subsequent talks with the Bears, State leadership and community stakeholders about how we can continue to responsibly support the aspirations of the team, its fans and all residents of the City of Chicago.”
The stadium negotiations come as the Chicago White Sox are vying to sell lawmakers on a new stadium of their own. The South Side baseball team, coming off a 101-loss season, has set its sights on The 78 development along the Chicago River in the South Loop, with recent reports suggesting the Sox and Bears could team up for a “financing partnership.”
Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker have kept the door open on using public dollars to finance stadiums in recent public remarks. But critics have called stadiums a poor public investment in teams, already controlled by billionaire owners.
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