Kevin Warren was brought in to spearhead the Chicago Bears’ new stadium-building efforts. Since then, he has remained consistent in that pursuit. Everybody assumed it would end up being in Arlington Heights, where the franchise purchased a huge 326-acre plot from Churchill Downs. However, property tax negotiations stalled. In that interim, Warren decided to look elsewhere. That is how he reached an agreement with Mayor Brandon Johnson on a new massive downtown project on the museum campus south of Soldier Field. There was one problem.
Governor J.B. Pritzker and his state government have refused to offer any public funding for such an endeavor.
There has been no shift on that front despite repeated statements from Warren that he feels confident a breakthrough is imminent. It turns out he was right, just not quite in the way he specified. According to Fox 32 Chicago, House Speaker Chris Welch told them the state would consider public funding for the Michael Reese site if the Bears were to consider it.
Kevin Warren has his avenue to a deal if he’s willing to compromise.
Initially, the Michael Reese location was dismissed because of engineering and security issues, along with the site’s narrowness at 48.6 acres. However, consultants have assured the Bears the first two issues can be worked around. Even advocate groups like Friends Of The Parks have admitted they wouldn’t try to stop developing in that location. Michael Reese hasn’t been worked on in any capacity for 16 years. Many officials believe revamping is long overdue. A Chicago Bears stadium in that location represents the perfect opportunity.
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Everything depends on how stubborn Kevin Warren is. If it’s about finding lakefront property, this is the opportunity he’s been waiting for. However, if he is dead set on the museum campus, it feels like he will be waiting a long time for any resolution.
A new state of the art stadium and multifunctional superplex would not only provide an economic boom to the city with thousands of new jobs created but also give the Bears much needed modern facilities for fans and families to enjoy, and lure the top NFL players to play for a truly historic franchise on the rise. Soldier Field is old, outdated and falling apart. It’s about time Chicago invests in its future.
I am sure that someone with half a financial brain can come up with terms that would make the build semi-affordable for the city and state.
Sounds like derogatory racism from your head Hyena, RoosterRider. He hates Warren (and thought Caleb was a bust before the Packer game). He is a Dumpster. It is one thing to recognize racial characteristics from a social science/legal analysis basis, but it is a totally different thing to weave it into a conspiratorial theory with no basis in fact, trying to pit whites against blacks over the stadium issue. Your correct Dr. M, your ally should not bring the worst style of politics into this discussion or maybe you excuse or even legitimize the angry white elderly male theory. What’s… Read more »
Nobody really dug into the past and looked at what Warren did and how he built the stadium for the Vikings did they? A lot of the same type of games went on back then and they’re going on now. . Ye of little faith..
The stadium will get built somewhere soon.
Seriously, the Chicago Bears organization is the only place where this type of incompetence would survive outside of the federal government.
If I hired someone to get a stadium built, provided them land that would provide development opportunities beyond what Wrigleyville is to the Ricketts and two years later they were doing coaching interviews and trying to find different land for me to build a stadium that I wouldn’t own, not only would I be firing them I’d be suing them for negligence. This is gross malpractice. I don’t know how this man is still employed.