NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bears unveiled plans for their downtown lakefront stadium proposal on Wednesday.
And as you might expect, it is very kind on the eyes:
The Bears even gave the project a code name — The Burnham Park Project:
The Burnham Park Project includes a new publicly-owned multipurpose replacement stadium located just south of Soldier Field that’s part of a singular year-round hub centered on park-based culture and recreation.
The proposal boasts year-round use for recreational and community events and an increase in open and green space, including 14 acres of athletic fields and recreational park space for use by public and youth sports programs. The athletic fields would provide a high-quality, safe place for the city’s youth, especially those from nearby underserved neighborhoods, to gather and play sports.
Hey, it all sounds good now in theory. Will it shake out this way in practice? Stay tuned.
It look like the team is serious about a Bears stadium in downtown Chicago
We’ve come a long way since the Bears spending more than $197 million on Arlington Park with the intent to build a stadium in suburban Arlington Heights.
For more on the Bears downtown lakefront stadium project, I’d recommend checking out the website the team launched that has details on their proposal. Here is an overview of the stadium proposal reveal via the site:
The transformative project will increase public open and green space, providing Chicago’s families a safe place to gather and play.
The recreational and cultural campus anchored by a new replacement stadium will add to the vitality of downtown. It will attract residents and visitors alike to a more vibrant campus that can be enjoyed throughout the year.
Soldier Field will be restored to its original scale with open athletic fields, and the historic colonnade, honoring the military men and women who have served our country, will be preserved and publicly accessible.
The Bears pitch is simple enough: A contribution north of $2 billion for a new, state-of-the-art domed stadium that also includes upgrades to Museum Campus. In the Bears’ eyes, this project is the kind of thing that could link private and public interests, and in doing so, bring jobs, add open space that citizens can use, and create revenue streams for underfunded city and state programs. So many of these stadium projects overpromise and underdeliver on this front. And while I hope this is different, history suggests that I shouldn’t get my hopes up.
This could be one of the biggest construction projects in recent memory. Heck, the Bears are pitching it as one of the largest in Illinois history with $4.2 billion worth of direct capital investment potentially being on the table in the hopes of creating a year-round space Chicagoans can use. Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of this becoming a thing. It’s just that I am well-versed in City of Chicago and State of Illinois politics that I know better than to think it will. At least, as it is proposed.
Heck, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is already publicly sharing his doubts regarding the viability:
In the end, I wonder if this is something that will lead the folks in Arlington Heights to bend to the Bears’ requests on the tax front. The idea of this Chicago push being nothing more than a highly visible leverage play from the Bears might be unlikely, but it isn’t totally unthinkable.
For now, I’m seeing this for what it is at face value: A cool-looking project that has ample questions about if it is doable on so many levels. I’m looking forward to seeing how this unfolds in the coming days, weeks, and months. So stay tuned.
