Chicago Bears And Mayor Johnson Continue Talks To Keep Team In City
CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears and Mayor Brandon Johnson are continuing talks over the team’s future in the city after its plans to leave for the suburbs hit a road bump.
Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren and Johnson met this week to continue a “productive discussion” that began in June, according to a joint statement from the mayor’s office and the Bears.
The contents of the discussion were not released, but the talks come as the football franchise’s much-hyped plan to leave the lakefront for Arlington Heights has been put on ice.
The football team earlier this year closed on the former horse race complex in Arlington Heights and unveiled preliminary plans to develop a stadium on the site. But the issue of tax compensation to Arlington Height’s municipal agencies has stalled the work, although the race course is being demolished, according to media reports.
With the Arlington Heights deal hitting a standstill, the Bears have fielded pitches for other potential suburban locations, including in Naperville, Waukegan and Aurora. The Bears have said they are undergoing due diligence to consider the other proposals.
The city will stay in conversation with Bears leadership as the team’s plans for a home stadium remain up in the air, officials said.
“We plan to have regular dialogue with each other and across our respective staffs as we work together to meet the needs of the citizens of Chicago and Bears fans,” Johnson said in the statement.
Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot tried to keep the Bears at Soldier Field when she unveiled three stadium renovation options, ranging in price from $900 million to $2.2 billion. One proposal was to put a dome over the stadium and expand seating. Included among those plans was a call to create a mixed-use development and a transportation center on the Metra tracks east of DuSable Lake Shore Drive near Soldier Field.
The Bears staying in Chicago at a reimagined Soldier Field with a domed roof is still a possibility, according to the Sun-Times.
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