Chicago throws Hail Mary to keep Bears as ‘handshake’ deal for $4bn stadium relocation hits snag

For months, the Chicago Bears have appeared set to leave Illinois in their quest to build a new stadium.

The historic NFL franchise has played at Soldier Field, located on the Near South Side of the Windy City, for more than 50 years.

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But times are changing, and the team has grand plans to build a $4 billion, state-of-the-art facility capable of one day hosting the Super Bowl.

The Bears have previously admitted to exhausting all efforts to stay in Chicago, and have their sights set on relocation to Hammond, Indiana.

But despite a willingness to switch states, and a ‘handshake’ deal from lawmakers across the border, a deal is yet to be made official.

As plans stall, Illinois communities continue to throw up Hail Marys in a bid to keep the Bears.

Chicago battles to keep Bears in town with new proposal

First it was the tiny village of McCook, where mayor Terry Carr has offered the team 150 acres of free land at a reclaimed quarry to build their new stadium.

“My team put together a plan to try to keep them in Illinois,” Carr told NBC5 Chicago.

“Everybody has got their own ideas. Everybody thinks their idea is the best.

“But we’re willing to push forward with ours, and we feel that ours is the best.”

Mayor Carr, though, isn’t the only official with big dreams.

State Rep. Curtis Tarver II wants the Bears to relocate to the former US Steel South Works site, located at 85th Street and DuSable Lake Shore Drive, on Chicago’s southeast side.

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According to The Times of Northwest Indiana, a Quantum Microelectronics Park and a new hospital is expected to be built on the old steel mill site.

But Tarver insists there’s plenty of room for a football stadium too.

“Chicago should fight to keep the Bears,” the representative wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times last month.

“A development anchored by the Bears in the South Works corridor could create a year-round destination, strengthen transit and infrastructure, support hotels, restaurants and small businesses, expand the local tax base and create accessible jobs for South Chicago and nearby communities.

“If the Bears choose Hammond, my district would see some spillover because Hammond is close and connected to the Southeast Side.

“But why settle for spillover when the jobs, visitor spending, tax growth and surrounding development could be captured on the Chicago and Illinois side of the line?”

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Much of the appeal for the Bears moving to Indiana comes from an offer of around $1 billion in taxpayer funding.

Stadium plan hits snag as NFL team tests Hammond site

While near-unanimous passage in both of Indiana’s legislative chambers was a positive sign, recent grumblings from Porter County officials threaten the deal once more.

Affordability is a top local concern, and amid renewed momentum against tax increases, sending money to a multi-billion dollar sports franchise could be ‘particularly objectionable’.

Indiana’s stadium funding plan relies on elected officials in Lake and Porter counties, as well as in Hammond, passing new taxes.

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“Where was that enthusiasm and that kind of commitment from our state lawmakers when people all winter long were struggling with their energy bills?” Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs asked, per the Indianapolis Star.

“Did the Speaker of the House come up here when local elected officials in Lake, Porter and LaPorte, all around the state of Indiana for that matter, were screaming about (the property tax reform bill), on what it was going to do to our budgets?”

Amid Indiana’s uncertainty, Illinois could be back in the running, and the Bears continue to wait on a deal to build their new home.

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