The Chicago Bears have said they are prioritizing northwest Indiana in their bid to build a new stadium, but could a secondary site in the area be the chosen spot?
Sources familiar with negotiations between the Bears and Indiana officials told NBC Chicago Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern that the team is eyeing a second Hammond site, not far from the Wolf Lake tract that has been the primary focus of lawmakers and team officials up until this point.
Ahern spoke to Indiana State Rep. Earl Harris about the state of play in the ongoing stadium saga.
“There is a chance that there could be another site in Hammond,” he said. “I would say at this point, as long as it lands in Hammond in northwest Indiana, we’ll be very happy.”
Indiana officials have been riding high in recent days after the Bears announced they were making a northwestern Indiana site a priority for their stadium negotiations. That news came just days after the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass legislation aimed at keeping the Bears in the state, though there is still a chance the project could be revisited down the road.
The Bears had confirmed their intent to focus on Indiana in a press release on Friday, but they notably did not specify where the stadium would be located if it ultimately is built in the Hoosier State.
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“We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city. It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses,” a joint statement from Bears Chairman George McCaskey and President and CEO Kevin Warren read.
Ahern’s sources indicate the second site is located near Wolf Lake, but did not offer specific details about the areas the Bears are eyeing up for a potential stadium project.
Still, Indiana officials are embracing their current frontrunner status.
“Hoosiers, help me welcome the Chicago Bears to our great state!” Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said in a statement shortly after the announcement. “We look forward to building a partnership as strong as the ’85 Bears defense, creating opportunities and economic growth that will benefit our state and the Bears organization for decades to come. An NFL franchise in Northwest Indiana will be an economic boost to the entire region like we haven’t seen before.”
Indiana lawmakers earlier this year passed a bill that would offer the Bears approximately $1 billion in incentives to convince them to leave Chicago after more than 100 years as the city’s NFL team. The money to finance construction bonds would come from a series of new tax levies surrounding the proposed sites in Indiana.
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Among those taxes would be a 1% food and beverage tax surcharge assessed in Lake and Porter counties, on top of the state’s existing 7% tax on those items.
Lake County’s hotel tax would also double as a result of the bill, rising from 5% to 10%, according to lawmakers.
There would be a 12% tax assessed on all tickets purchased to games at the venue.
The Bears would have the option to buy the stadium once Indiana taxpayers pay the bonds to construct it.
Legislation to encourage the Bears to build a stadium in suburban Arlington Heights faltered in the closing stages of the General Assembly’s spring session in Illinois, and although Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia is hoping the legislature will convene a special session to address the Bears issue, it is appearing unlikely that lawmakers will do anything to address it prior to the fall veto session.
Even if they decide to, they would need a supermajority of the legislature to go along with any plan, a tall order for a plan that was struggling to gain enough votes to pass in the closing stages of the spring session.
