Chicago Bears Post Invest in Bid for Arlington Racecourse, Fueling Stadium Rumors – NBC Chicago

Chicago Bears Post Invest in Bid for Arlington Racecourse, Fueling Stadium Rumors – NBC Chicago

In light of recent rumblings that the Chicago Bears could potentially examine a new stadium web page in suburban Arlington Heights, the crew introduced Thursday that it has submitted a bid to buy the Arlington Worldwide Racecourse.

The proprietors of the horse racing location experienced announced previously this calendar year that they intend to promote the house for redevelopment, and the Bears’ curiosity in the venue will only further more gasoline speculation that the staff could potentially develop a new stadium on the web site.

“We just lately submitted a bid to order the Arlington Intercontinental Racecourse property,” President and CEO Ted Phillips said in a assertion. “It’s our obligation to explore just about every probable possibility to make sure we’re doing what’s best for our group and its foreseeable future. If selected, this phase enables us to additional evaluate the house and its opportunity.”

Earlier this week, Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said that the option for the Bears to transfer to the group was even now “on the desk,” but declined to get into particulars.

“It’s even now on the table, to my understanding, but it is a complete, definite ‘maybe,’” he instructed the Each day Herald. “I’m not in a placement where by I could say it is a definite ‘go’ or ‘no go.’”

The mayor claims that there are “much less than 10” redevelopment designs that have been submitted for the website.

The Bears renovated Soldier Area in 2002, and are locked into a lease at the historic stadium through at the very least 2033, according to officers.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot addressed the scenario Thursday, acknowledging that while the lakefront internet site is “challenging,” the crew is locked into a lease, and she is self-assured that the NFL won’t let the crew split it.

“A pair of knowledge details that I think you need to be aware of are the Bears have a lease with Soldier Subject until 2033, and the NFL does not allow any teams split their leases,” she claimed. “I was just on a simply call with senior leadership in the last two weeks. So there are items that they’d like to see differently at Soldier Industry, and we want to do what ever we can to accommodate it. It’s a excellent legendary internet site, but it’s a difficult web-site.”

The Bears earlier talked over the risk of developing a stadium in Arlington Heights in the 1980s, but eventually made the decision to renovate Soldier Subject, with the state of Illinois elevating money to aid the crew do so. The Bears played at the University of Illinois football stadium for one particular time prior to debuting the new-look Soldier Industry in 2003.

Related Post