The latest twists and turns in the Chicago Bears stadium saga have prompted the team to again emphatically say they only have two sites in mind.
This week, State Sen. Bill Cunningham was one of two Illinois lawmakers who said the Bears had re-engaged the city of Chicago on the idea of locating their stadium on the lakefront if their Arlington Heights project did not work out.
“There was contact between the Bears and the city sometime in late April where they talked hypothetically about looking back at the lakefront if the Arlington heights site did not work out, and that has given the mayor the opportunity to point to that as a hope a lakefront stadium is still possible,” he told NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern on Wednesday.
Now, the Bears are firing back, saying they engaged in confidential discussions with the city about their lease at Soldier Field and that they are still committed to building a stadium in either Arlington Heights or in Hammond, Indiana.
“The Chicago Bears have exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago, which was our initial goal,” the team said in a new statement Thursday. “There is not a viable site in the city. As a result, the only sites under consideration are in Arlington Heights and Hammond.”
According to Cunningham, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has used the meeting to convince lawmakers in Springfield to “slow down” a vote on the stadium project in Arlington Heights.
“One of the biggest obstacles to the Bears Arlington Heights plan has been potential opposition from Chicago legislators,” he said.
Marc Ganis, a stadium expert with years of experience in negotiating on projects, believes the Bears when they say they only reached out about the terms of their lease, which they could conceivably have to break to move to either proposed site.
“There have been multiple times in the process that different parties have not been able to get out of their own way. But none of those lawmakers from Springfield were on the call between the two lawyers, one for the Bears, one for the city,” he said.
For Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott, he said that the back-and-forth wrangling over the stadium shows that Indiana’s bid should be taken seriously.
“The more I see the dysfunction in Illinois, all due respect, the more confident I get, but I also am very aware that we’re fighting nostalgia,” he said.
He also dismissed talk this week over whether the Hammond site would be a concern due to its proximity to the BP oil refinery and to a Superfund cleanup site, which had been criticized by Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia as a potential obstacle.
“The Bears know what they’re dealing with in that area and it would be just as challenging as any other site,” he said.
The Illinois General Assembly will be in session until the end of the month. The Bears meanwhile have said they would like to make a decision on a stadium site in late spring or early summer so that construction can begin.
