CHICAGO | Da Bears | New Domed Lakefront Stadium Proposal

[nomarandlee]

I'm looking forward to seeing the renderings. To me, it seems like wasteful boondoggle spending.

Instead of asking the public to dump 1 billion into a site, the Bears should go to a site that doesn't require 1 billion of infrastructure upgrades. This is a novel concept, I know. The Reese/MCC truck yard is a quality site. Build a pedestrian bridge over LSD from that site, and there is all the access, parking, and hotel and retail potential you need.

[twister244]

Which is why I have to think they have a couple backup plans in case the NIMBY mob comes out to try to kill this thing like they did with George Lucas - Shift focus to 78/Reese.

[west-town-brad]

they want a hotel on the lakefront?

are they trolling Friends of the Park or what?

its kind of like they know nothing about development in the city of chicago

never gonna happen

[Handro]

They don’t plan on building a hotel on the lakefront. They are throwing down the negotiation gauntlet.

[2PRUROCKS!]

A definite no to any hotel east of LSD...but the rest of the plan sounds doable. Of course the devil is in the details and we need to see the rendering and plans.

The 1 billion for infrastructure improvements is probably needed as is for proper access to the Museum Campus, Northerly Island, McCormick Place, Burnham Harbor, and current Soldier Field. This is just doing what should have been done already.

Another site like Michael Reese or the 78 have even more infrastructure needs and just as bad if not worse transit connections. Michael Reese for example is even further from downtown and most rail lines and highway access is just as challenging.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by 2PRUROCKS!

A definite no to any hotel east of LSD...but the rest of the plan sounds doable. Of course the devil is in the details and we need to see the rendering and plans.

The 1 billion for infrastructure improvements is probably needed as is for proper access to the Museum Campus, Northerly Island, McCormick Place, Burnham Harbor, and current Soldier Field. This is just doing what should have been done already.
.

The city should have done all that 25 years ago during the major LSD rerouting. While not perfect, the Museum Campus looks pretty darn nice. Other than finally making Northerly Island useful, I see little improvement that needs to happen there. A billion dollars would be much better used to beautify and improve the lakefront elsewhere.

What, are they going to bury LSD and the IC tracks? All so the Bears could put a $2 billion stadium on the lakefront, which will be on an extremely tight parcel and shouldn't be there anyway. A site that will likely lack in any tailgating and little in the way of dining or retail options right near the stadium. It is amazing how officials in this city promote just throwing hundreds of millions of dollars down the drain for no real identifiable reason.

Another site like Michael Reese or the 78 have even more infrastructure needs and just as bad if not worse transit connections. Michael Reese for example is even further from downtown and most rail lines and highway access is just as challenging

The Michael Reese site needs a real road network from 31st street to 55, but that would be much cheaper than the 1 billion we are discussing here, and is part of the city's long term plans to develop the site anyway.

The site sits right on top of the IC tracks. The MCC busway stops literally right at the site's door at the south end of MCC. The I-55 feeder ramps are right there. There are already thousands of MCC parking spots adjacent to the location.

Let's be real here. This is just some weird stubborn vanity play by the Bears, who have always fixated on being ON the lakefront if they were to be in Chicago. They mucked up the SF redevelopment plans, at great taxpayer expense, the first time, and they seem to have learned nothing since then.

[Kngkyle]

Still not enough information to really judge. $1b seems like a lot for a reworked intersection (albeit complicated), bridge to Northerly Island, and some other minor roadworks.

Also curious to see the lease arrangement that gives the Bears the comfort to drop $2b on a stadium they won't even own.

And yea the hotel is an obvious negotiating ploy. Not a snowballs chance in hell.

It's weird that Bob Dunn has been silent throughout this ordeal and based on reporting not involved in any conversations. If the Bears want a hotel and entertainment district it's possible just across the street...

Happy to see Soldier Field is planning to still be used as a sporting venue and not just a monument in a park. I'd much rather the Chicago Fire stay here rather than move to a bastardized Guaranteed Rate.

[BrinChi]

dum dum dum...
https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/nfl...suburb/552032/

[Busy Bee]

I can't totally blame them. If I was a NW suburb booster type chamber of commerce yocal that didn't give a shit about the city I'd probably be complaining too. That's an awfully painful sike they've just experienced. I say give them some grace so they can come down softly. No point in humiliating the defeated - that's poor sportsmanship.

[2PRUROCKS!]

Originally Posted by nomarandlee

The Michael Reese site needs a real road network from 31st street to 55, but that would be much cheaper than the 1 billion we are discussing here, and is part of the city's long term plans to develop the site anyway.

The site sits right on top of the IC tracks. The MCC busway stops literally right at the site's door at the south end of MCC. The I-55 feeder ramps are right there. There are already thousands of MCC parking spots adjacent to the location.

I'm not opposed to a new stadium going on the Michael Reese site but it currently has even worse access for a stadium than the present situation at Soldier Field and the Museum Campus. MR is further from downtown and any CTA rail stations and while near the IC tracks it doesn't have a station/stop like SF/MC already do. Rectifying that and building the road network and access ramps you describe I'm sure would cost well over 1 billion$. All that would be done just for a stadium. If the current development plans for MR go as planned only the local road reconfiguration needs to be done. So by building a stadium at MR you would have to have a lot of additional infrastructure cost to bring it on par with what already currently exists at SF/MC. The infrastructure improvements at SF/MC should improve the situation even more and benefit not just a stadium like a MR proposal would do but also improve access to the MC, McCormick Place, Northerly Island, and the Lake front.

Kevin Warren has pushed back on the MR option saying it is too small...I believe he specifically said too narrow. I don't know if that is true or not but clearly the MR site has challenges.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by 2PRUROCKS!

I'm not opposed to a new stadium going on the Michael Reese site but it currently has even worse access for a stadium than the present situation at Soldier Field and the Museum Campus. MR is further from downtown and any CTA rail stations and while near the IC tracks it doesn't have a station/stop like SF/MC already do.

It is true that MR is approximately one mile further south than Soldier Field from a given point in downtown. Let's be honest here, though 90% of fans will arrive at either new stadium site by car. Even when using PT, the proposed SF holds no distinct advantage. The Green Line @ Cermak to the McDoalnds on MLK (where the new stadium could go) is an 18-minute walk. The same Green Line stop to the Waldron Deck is a 27-minute walk. An IC stop could be easily integrated into the MR stadium complex mere steps away from the new stadium, while an even more expensive restructuring of the current dilapidated IC stop by at Waldron Deck is likely a part of the Bear's plans. So the IC factor and expense is a wash at best, but I'd give the potential advantage to an integrated IC station at MR.
Also the MCC busway could be fed directly into the stadium at MR so there is that major advantage.

Rectifying that and building the road network and access ramps you describe I'm sure would cost well over 1 billion$.

Would it? Other than rebuilding the MR road footprint, which is planned anyway, I am not sure what else needs to be done for the MR site from a road logistics persepctive. The MCC truck yards/MR stadium would effectively use the same traffic patterns that MCC does now, using the 55 ramps and MLK. It would just have the slight advantage of relieving some of the traffic that inches from 55 to LSD northbound now on game days to SF.

So by building a stadium at MR you would have to have a lot of additional infrastructure cost to bring it on par with what already currently exists at SF/MC.

You say what already exists, but the Bears are claiming that they want the city to pay out 1 billion dollars to improve the infrastructure around the SF/MC in order to improve traffic flow. So, in the Bear's estimation, it seems the SF/MC site is most definitely not ready and set. Also, many fans groan about how hard it is on game days to get in and out of SF/MC. I don't think it is that bad. I think people are just prone to whining and have failed to understand how hard it is to move 60k people in/out of venues. It seems that the Bears and fans think otherwise, however.

The infrastructure improvements at SF/MC should improve the situation even more and benefit not just a stadium like a MR proposal would do but also improve access to the MC, McCormick Place, Northerly Island, and the Lake front.

Perhaps it is just a lack of imagination on my part, but I am failing to imagine how "access" could be easily upgraded that would make all that much difference in the Bears plans. Is 18th Street going to be built under/over the IC tracks to connect to the lakefront? Even if it were, that would seem to do little to integrate the city with the lakefront.
If the idea is to finish Northerly Island and green the South Lot, which isn't really improving traffic logistics, then that expense could be incurred without tearing down 95% of Soldier Field or moving bulldozers so that a new stadium could fit on an extremely tight footprint where the Waldron Deck sits now. Also, the amount of underground parking needed for a new lakefront stadium sounds very expensive and costly to upkeep. Are the Bears going to be coming back to the city in 25 years with the need to "maintain" their 10k underground parking garage (that can't even host tailgating) for 200 million along the lakefront infill? The napkin accounting says this idea is needlessly expensive.

Kevin Warren has pushed back on the MR option saying it is too small...I believe he specifically said too narrow. I don't know if that is true or not but clearly the MR site has challenges.

As long as the city and Bears are willing to relocate the Advocate Clinic and McDonalds off of MLK, I have a hard time believing that the site is too small, especially if one is willing to build over the MCC yards and/or IC tracks. The site is definitely larger than the Waldron Deck/South Lot footprint. There is also open space along MLK and 26th to host retail, restraunts, bars, and a musuem if they desired.

I speculate that the Bears' insistence on the Lakefront has far more to do with them wanting to remain firmly on public land so that they can retain tax advantages or not have to pay to buy/rent the land from Fairpoint/GRIT development.

[Toasty Joe]

My dream solution would be for Bob Dunn to come through with One Central, capping the tracks & building highrises with large parking podia (but active frontage) with capacity for Bears games / other lakefront events. The Bears could then work on some permanent park space/tailgating area (see Stanford) that can be used year-round.

Maybe throw in some TIF money or other incentives for Dunn to maintain the parking over the tracks long term, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. The added density, connectivity, and more active lakefront/MC would certainly pay off for the city in the long run.

[ithakas]

Here's another idea that will probably never happen:

Bears move to the South Branch of the river on Ashland, buying out Anthony Marano and QTS Data Center for the stadium footprint. The stadium could open up to amazing skyline views, along with the industrial heritage of Chicago in view across the river.

They might peel off adjacent bits of the South Branch for a hotel/entertainment district – the Damen Silos could be amazing, of course, and you might be able to get Fedex to consolidate its hub west of Damen. There's also the Cougle plant, though that's pretty new.

For transportation, you have the Ashland orange line right next to the site, plus the Ashland bus, right of 55 not far from the 90 interchange. Metra could open a HC line stop right on the site too.

It could also spur much-needed midrise development south on Ashland and Archer, and bring CMD renovations closer to reality.

[sammyg]

Bad news for both the Bears and White Sox - the state has no interest in providing any stadium funding.

https://capitolfax.com/2024/04/10/se...nded-stadiums/

And look, I’m as big a sports fan is the next guy. And I’m always happy to listen to ideas. But I made it clear to them then and I’ve tried to make it clear in the media since that there’s next to no appetite to fund a new stadium with taxpayer dollars.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by sammyg

Bad news for both the Bears and White Sox - the state has no interest in providing any stadium funding.

This is not bad news.......

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by BrinChi

dum dum dum...
https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/nfl...suburb/552032/

You don't say...

[Steely Dan]

If only the Bears organization would put as much effort into fielding a high quality team as they do playing games to try and suck the tax payers dry........

[jpIllInoIs]

-And now the Bears pivot back to AH as it is the only way to truly create their own revenue stream to pay for the grandeur scheme.

-Look for Reinsdorf to show up at more mayoral offices as he carpet bags his way around C-list cities with his hands out.

[Chisouthside]

i feel like Jerry will also begin to purposely run the white sox even more into the ground to create the conditions for a potential move.

[Steely Dan]

^ sometime in the early '30s:

"ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together and welcome your new Nashville White Sox to the field!"


It totally fucking sucks, but that's how this race to the bottom game is played.