The_Admiral Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 https://www.wbez.org/stories/bears-stadium-should-shift-to-michael-reese-site-civic-federation-president/aac2409e-16ab-4227-8cef-587aa889fff2 Quote “It could be done as an economic development project … that includes a stadium that keeps the Bears in Chicago that involves far more creative, less taxpayer-burdensome funding sources,” he added. And in using the long-vacant Reese site, it “actually brings back online one of the most valuable pieces of urban property that, right now, is not performing at all from a tax perspective.” Ferguson reflected on “how shocking” it was, on April 24, to see the Bears unveil what he called an “unfinished” plan to build a domed lakefront stadium with Mayor Brandon Johnson as lead blocker. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative leaders were and still are on the other side of the line of scrimmage, opposing any public funding. A few days later, the estimated price tag climbed higher — to $5.9 billion, when the full cost of financing the new stadium and retiring existing debt is factored in. That debt is for the 2003 rebuild of Soldier Field and renovations to Guaranteed Rate Field, where the White Sox play. Yet another surprise was that in the new stadium, the Bears want a dramatically sweeter stadium lease with the Chicago Park District. Its current Soldier Field lease has been an almost constant source of contention over the years. In a new stadium, the Bears want to keep all revenue from concerts and other non-football events. It was “a political misjudgment” not to have worked with Springfield on the plan, “when Springfield ultimately was needed. It looked to me like the whole thing was set up on the notion that a fastball could be thrown through the car wash without getting wet because we had people in City Hall that really could be rolled on this,” Ferguson said. Ferguson acknowledged that Warren, a “very smart man,” was a driving force behind building the $1.1 billion U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis during his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings. But Ferguson said, “Chicago is not Minnesota. This is not Lake Wobegon.” @Sodboy13 was right on the money for a long time in stressing how badly the Bears screwed up by not trying to partner with the state on a mutually beneficial solution, and now, finally, here it is right in the pages of the NPR Sun-Times. Also, this guy indirectly calls Brandon Johnson a dumb rube, no argument here, and reminding us that the "very smart" Kevin Warren isn't playing in the minors kind of shades that compliment, too. In terms of acreage, the Michael Reese wasteland does make sense. However, you'd replicate a lot of the traffic and transit issues that exist a mile or so north: there would only be direct service from the Electric Line and everyone else would have to pick it up at Millennium Park or drive. Also, "27th Street" would set off alarm bells in the minds of everyone who thinks everything south of Van Buren is a godless warzone (Soldier Field is, too, but this seldom occurs to people). Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDAWG Posted May 19 Share Posted May 19 It's a longshot, but if the Bears plans for that stadium does happen and Soldier Field ends up with only the colonnades remaining, how much time does the Chicago Fire of the MLS have to find a new stadium? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 They can always go back to Bridgeview if they have to. I'd like to think the open-air, natural-grass stadium that the Bears will ultimately have to settle for will also accommodate the Fire and Red Stars. Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/05/25/legislature-wont-act-on-bears-stadium-funding-request-this-spring-lawmakers-say/ Quote The Chicago Bears’ appeal for more than $2 billion in public assistance to build a new domed stadium on a reimagined lakefront is on hold until at least the fall, high-ranking Democratic lawmakers confirmed Saturday. With state lawmakers still grappling with the state budget after blowing their self-imposed Friday deadline, state Sen. Bill Cunningham of Chicago, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, said there would be no action on the team’s request before the legislature adjourns for the spring. State Rep. Kam Buckner of Chicago, a member of House Democratic leadership, likewise said the team’s quest for a new home to replace aging Soldier Field, which lies in his district, isn’t on the legislative agenda in the waning days of session. “It’s fair to say that there won’t be any Bears action … in this legislative session, which I think is fine,” Buckner said Saturday at the state Capitol. “I think a proposal of this magnitude deserves sunlight and scrutiny. And very often what has happened in this building is that things get rammed through at the last minute without much public input or transparency. “So I welcome conversations that will probably begin to happen once we’re done here.” Despite the full backing of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who stood with team officials when they unveiled their proposal last month, the Bears’ plan received a cool reception in Springfield. It’s the second year in a row that talks about public support for the charter NFL franchise have stalled at the statehouse. A proposal last year that would have helped the team relocate to Arlington Heights also failed to gain support in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office called the team’s latest bid to stay in Chicago a “non-starter” in its initial form, and the team’s efforts to round up support among legislative leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers were met with reactions ranging from firm and outspoken opposition to indifference. 1) incorrect use of "despite," you meant "because of" 2) lol Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 Good God I had just read that article and had come here to share the result. We gotta get off this wavelength. 2 Quote On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said: For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA. PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 Yeah, really, I don't want to poison you or something. So the first actual ramification of this is that there definitely won't be a new stadium for 2028. That always seemed like a reach anyway. Well, time for the Bears to go back to considering a stadium on a street so narrow that you can lie across it and touch both sides. Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 20 minutes ago, The_Admiral said: Well, time for the Bears to go back to considering a stadium on a street so narrow that you can lie across it and touch both sides. This just reminded me of how Wisconsin rebuilt I-94 through Kenosha and Racine Counties, then their doofus governor signed a cocktail napkin deal with Foxconn, so they had to rebuild the same stretch of expressway again just a couple years later to add a lane in each direction for those 13,000 full-time jobs that were coming to Mount Pleasant, and then ope! What I'm saying is that the conclusion the McCaskeys will draw from this mess of their own making is that they need a Scott Walker in office to get things done for them. They are going to try to become explicit political players and it is going to be hilarious because all they know is how to run a football team and we all can see how that goes. Can't wait to see who they handpick and set $100 million on fire for to become the second coming of Richard Irvin. Quote On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said: For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA. PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 1 hour ago, Sodboy13 said: Can't wait to see who they handpick and set $100 million on fire for to become the second coming of Richard Irvin. I went through a mental rolodex of ex-Bears and office stooges but couldn't come up with anything funnier than Bruce Rauner but now with a mustache. As I look at the map, basically every road around Arlington Park is, if you'll pardon the non-word, unwidenable. Euclid Avenue has old houses occupied by civically engaged families. Northwest Highway has the railroad on one side (EDIT: which you can't move; it's on a berm) and houses/offices/businesses on the other. 53 has frontages on either side that people live on. Eminent-domaining like half of Rolling Meadows is also something the state can't afford right now. Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDAWG Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 So staying at Soldier Field or going to Arlington Heights are the only options at this point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 Yes, and Arlington Heights is fading fast as the schools (one of the big reasons people move to Arlington Heights) don't seem inclined to roll over for the Bears, and, still, no one has explained how the roads would handle the traffic when they can't handle rush-hour traffic now. What should be the only option, finessing the 78 away from the Sox (who are just as out to lunch on grand stadium plans as the Bears are) and over to the Bears, doesn't seem to be on anyone's radar. Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDAWG Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted yesterday at 03:45 PM Share Posted yesterday at 03:45 PM https://www.dailyherald.com/20240611/news/warren-bears-not-ready-to-sell-arlington-park-or-minority-stake-in-team/ Quote The McCaskey family isn’t considering selling a minority stake in the team to free up cash to get a Bears stadium deal done in Chicago. They’re also not ready to put their 326-acre Arlington Heights property — initially envisioned to be home of the team’s new domed structure — up for sale. Those were among the takeaways Tuesday from Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren, who spoke during a Lincoln Forum/Union League Club of Chicago luncheon and took questions from reporters afterward. “That’s something that we have not talked about. That’s something that is not on the table at this point in time,” Warren said when asked if Bears ownership would sell minority shares to help pay for a stadium. “It’s just not, and I don’t ever visualize that becoming a part of the discussion. We don’t think it’s necessary to do.” “Never say never,” he later added. “But that is not something that we would ever focus on.” See, the problem with liquidating the real estate asset they can't use or selling some stock in the team that they'll probably have to sell anyway is that they would have to trade something for money instead of just being given money, and they should just be given money because God sent Kevin Warren to Chicago to save the Bears. Also, I'm still trying to parse "never say never" right before he says "never." https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/sports/nfl/chicago-bears/chicago-bears-arent-ready-to-sell-arlington-heights-property-what-does-that-mean-for-their-stadium-future/3463293/ Quote Responding to the Bears' exclusion from the spring legislative budget, Warren was understanding. "I don't think I've ever been disappointed in anything. I understand these are big projects," Warren said when asked if he was disappointed the Bears weren't included. You've never been disappointed? You run the Chicago Bears. And, on and off the field, not very well. Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDAWG Posted yesterday at 04:28 PM Share Posted yesterday at 04:28 PM They're not selling the Arlington Heights Property because that's "Plan B" for them when this stadium deal collapses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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