Indiana Gov. Mike Braun declared that the effort to lure the Chicago Bears into his state is now “in the red zone,” although a final decision by the team has yet to be secured.
Front Office Sports reports Braun stated the deal to construct a $5 billion domed stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, an Indiana city less than a half-hour from downtown Chicago, is still a work in progress.
“I’ve done so much real estate in my career. Until you ink it, it’s not done,” Braun said during an event at Valparaiso University. “But it’s moved a long distance in a short period of time because it moved hardly at all for five and a half years [in Illinois].”
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. echoed the governor’s remarks during the Valparaiso event.
“One of the things that struck the Bears the most about this whole ordeal is the fact that a Republican governor and a Democratic mayor can work hand in hand and get a job done in a bipartisan manner,” said McDermott.
Back in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker has raised the possibility of a special legislative session to revisit the stadium issue, although he seemed unwilling to sweeten any deal to keep the team in the state.
“We don’t want to raise taxes on the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said last month. “We have offered infrastructure support, which is actually most of what the Bears have been asking for. We think we’re as close as anybody to getting a stadium done here. I don’t think Indiana is a whole heck of a lot closer than we are.”
The team’s leadership has been mostly quiet since it voted last month to advance its stadium development project in Hammond, with an exact site to be determined. Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren is scheduled to appear on July 16 at a “Talking Football” event at Chicago’s Gorton Center, although it is uncertain if he will provide an update at that time.
The Indiana stadium plan received political approval in February and is slated to fund about 60% of the stadium cost.
0 Comments