An Illinois state representative has floated a new initiative to keep the Chicago Bears in their hometown by proposing the construction of a new stadium in an underutilized corner of the city.
Fox 32 Chicago reports Rep. Curtis Tarver (D-Chicago) is pitching a new stadium on more than 300 acres of in the city’s South Side undeveloped land near 85th Street and DuSable Lake Shore Drive. The property is located along Lake Michigan, north of the future Quantum and Microelectronics Park now being built on part of the former US Steel site.
Tarver’s advocacy includes having the lakefront site in private ownership, with a developer ready to build in the area. He added the stadium could be connected to the rest of the city through mass transit and water taxis.
“You hear people talking about lakefront property. This is lakefront property,” Tarver said. “There are no issues because it’s private property as opposed to publicly owned property.”
However, Tarver acknowledges keeping the Bears in Chicago will require a greater municipal investment in building a new stadium. He also admits the inner city location does not appeal to everyone.
“Because it’s on the South Side, quite honestly,” he said, noting that elected officials have been more enthusiastic about moving the team to the suburban Arlington Heights. Still, he pointed to the recently opened Obama Presidential Center as an example of how a major project could reanimate the area.
“Imagine what a stadium down this way would do,” Tarver said. “The jobs that it creates for the neighborhood, the retail — I mean, it’s a no-brainer.”
Currently, the Bears have only considered moving to either Arlington Park or across the state line to Hammond, Indiana. And while the team is focused at the moment on Hammond, Tarver believes a last-minute new option is not out of the question.
“There’s nothing that’s signed and sealed in Indiana. There’s nothing that’s signed and sealed in Arlington Heights either,” he said. “So, until an actual deal is done, I think we are in play.”
Neither the Bears nor city or state officials commented on Tarver’s proposal.
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