CHICAGO | Da Bears | Now these shitheads wanna drive their clown car over to Indiana?

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by twister244

I guess it's almost an attitude I have at this point of - I want them to leave the city now.

These guys have been nothing but greedy dicks the entire time, with ZERO thought about what implications the Bears leaving the city for AH or Indiana has for both the city and the fans. They have calculated that fans are gonna show up to games no matter where they build, so they are just looking for the best handout without giving any thoughts about what this means for their brand in the long run.

I have no problem with the profit motive, but if they were at least trying to put an effort in to stay near downtown knowing it feeds back into city growth, I would feel much differently.

I don't think downtown Chicago needs the Bears anymore than Manhattan needed the Giants/Jets. There was a proposal more than 20 years ago for a Giants/Jets stadium on Hudson Yards, as part of an NYC Olympic Games bid, and I am glad that proposal fell through as what Manhattan got instead was a fabulous and successful development that will be even more fabulous and successful once HY2 gets completed. A giant stadium used maybe 10-15 per year sitting on prime lakefront seems wasteful. The stadium is no longer historic with the last renovation, and I think they should just demolish it if the Bears do leave. Chicago should consider building something like Hudson Yards on the site.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by DCReid

The stadium is no longer historic with the last renovation, and I think they should just demolish it if the Bears do leave. Chicago should consider building something like Hudson Yards on the site.

LOL!

The land soldier field sits on is public land protected by Chicago's fairly airtight lakefront protection ordinance.

Even if soldiers field is ever demolished, it will never be rebuilt as anything. It'll just become more parkland.

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

LOL!

The land soldier field sits on is public land protected by Chicago's fairly airtight lakefront protection ordinance.

Even if soldiers field is ever demolished, it will never be rebuilt as anything. It'll just become more parkland.

Around 2014 Goerge Lucas wanted to build the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on the parking lot of Soldier Field. That plan was strongly opposed by the community preservation organization and Lucas scrapped the plan and is building the museum in LA. Of course, the Bears were not expressing an intent to leave Soldier Field in the early 2010s but it would have been interesting to see if Chicago would have gotten the museum if that was the case...or if Obama would have chosen this location for the Presidential library...but pure conjecture...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Museum_of_Narrative_Art

[left of center]

Originally Posted by DCReid

The stadium is no longer historic with the last renovation, and I think they should just demolish it if the Bears do leave.

Well, that's a wildly incorrect take.

While the stadium was removed from the National Register of Historic Places due to the 2002 renovation, that designation change doesn’t mean the building somehow lost its historic character or significance. SF still retains its defining architectural elements, notably the original neoclassical colonnades that have framed it since the 1920s. Beyond architecture, its also a WWI soldier memorial, has hosted decades of major civic events, and it remains one of the most recognizable public spaces in the city.

The idea that it should be demolished simply because the Chicago Bears are leaving undersells the building's importance to the city and functionality as a top tier event space, and oversells the value of a crappy football team. SF wasn't even built for the Bears, they moved in half a century after it was completed. It was fine for decades without the Bears, and it will continue to be fine without them.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by left of center

Well, that's a wildly incorrect take.

While the stadium was removed from the National Register of Historic Places due to the 2002 renovation, that designation change doesn’t mean the building somehow lost its historic character or significance. SF still retains its defining architectural elements, notably the original neoclassical colonnades that have framed it since the 1920s. Beyond architecture, its also a WWI soldier memorial, has hosted decades of major civic events, and it remains one of the most recognizable public spaces in the city.

The idea that it should be demolished simply because the Chicago Bears are leaving undersells the building's importance to the city and functionality as a top tier event space, and oversells the value of a crappy football team. SF wasn't even built for the Bears, they moved in half a century after it was completed. It was fine for decades without the Bears, and it will continue to be fine without them.

If anything, I see this as an opportunity to maybe do something with the massive parking lots next to it...... I see a lot of opportunity to utilize that space, assuming Friends of the Park don't come in and ruin everything like they love to do.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by DCReid

Around 2014 Goerge Lucas wanted to build the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on the parking lot of Soldier Field. That plan was strongly opposed by the community preservation organization and Lucas scrapped the plan and is building the museum in LA. Of course, the Bears were not expressing an intent to leave Soldier Field in the early 2010s but it would have been interesting to see if Chicago would have gotten the museum if that was the case...or if Obama would have chosen this location for the Presidential library...but pure conjecture...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Museum_of_Narrative_Art

Yes, we are all aware of that debacle; no need to remind us, thank you.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by twister244

If anything, I see this as an opportunity to maybe do something with the massive parking lots next to it...... I see a lot of opportunity to utilize that space, assuming Friends of the Park don't come in and ruin everything like they love to do.

There was actually a good bit of what I liked about the Bears' proposal a few years ago to turn the current SF into park space and playing fields. If it could be done for a 1/4 of the cost they were proposing, I'd be interested in seeing if it could happen.

As much as I liked that plan, though, I think it would be wasteful not to keep some remnants of the current Soldier Field seating and venue amenities to keep it a revenue-generating space, be it a large outdoor music venue or fairgrounds of some kind.

[twister244]

So....... I guess Hammond is the official choice now?

[kryptic27]

So I guess they're moving to Indiana. Oh well.

[Steely Dan]

Go Pack Go!

[left of center]

Bye Felicia

[left of center]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Go Pack Go!

Suddenly Mike Quigley's football loyalties don't seem like such a liability

[Danillo]

Nothing means anything until there is actual construction. These people (and by these people, I mean all pro sports owners) are all liars.

[IrishIllini]

They still own the land in Arlington Heights and they still have a lease with the Park District. May be another bluff. Who knows. It's a bad deal for taxpayers in either state regardless. The McCaskey's clearly don't want to sell and seem to be in desperate need of the $$$. If NWI ends up with a new stadium, there's no way in hell the Bears are buying it back in 40 years...

I'd prefer the stay in the city, but I doubt the southland / NWI have seen this big an investment since the 70s or 80s at the latest. Silver linings

[left of center]

Its honestly a bad deal for the team as well. I don't see how the McCaskey's think that they will greatly increase the value of the team when they move further away from their core market, and further from the wealthier areas of the metro where the big money fans reside. The surrounding area around Wolf Lake is not a destination, and it will take a lot of money to attempt to make it one. Even sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into it is no guarantee it will be one outside of gamedays.

They get quick money from Indiana, but forever kneecap the team's value and earning potential. Short sighted and stupid. Like the ownership I guess.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Silver linings.

The biggest one being:

If the Bears actually accept the offer from the taxpayers of Indiana to let the entire McCaskey family run a train on them, then I can finally and fully divorce myself from these incompetent, greedy, and shameless shitheads forever!!!

I'll become a free agent, and why not become a fan of the only ownership group in all of major league sports that actually deserves to be rooted for?

[ardecila]

Brandon Johnson has just totally cocked this up, fumble after fumble.

The Bears one and only plan to build in the city (north of McCormick) would have required massive taxpayer funding for everything around the stadium/parks and infrastructure, so it was obviously not gonna satisfy Pritzker's red line of no direct taxpayer funds. Rather than work with that constraint, though and find a better/more affordable site in city limits, Johnson just kept hammering the state to find more money in a vain effort to build that pipe dream plan. As if Springfield has ~endless resources~.

Seriously, Michael Reese was promising and needed more time and effort to develop a workable plan... but it's not the only site in the city. There's big parking lots around Sox Field that could be developed, there's Fisk Power Station which could be an awesome riverfront stadium with industrial grit incorporated, there's the 29th/Damen silos, etc.

[nomarandlee]

Meh, the last and best Bears power play so that Illinois calls a special summer session.

I'll believe it when financing is announced, NFL owners approve, and shovels are in the ground.

The Bears don't want to move to a toxic wastesite with no reasonable potential for adjacent development. NW Indina is not East Rutherford, Santa Clara, Arlington (TX), or Foxboro. The Bears and everyone know it.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by nomarandlee

Meh, the last and best Bears power play so that Illinois calls a special summer session.

I'll believe it when financing is announced, NFL owners approve, and shovels are in the ground.

The Bears don't want to move to a toxic wastesite with no reasonable potential for adjacent development. NW Indina is not East Rutherford, Santa Clara, Arlington (TX), or Foxboro. The Bears and everyone know it.

They need a super majority to pass anything in a summer session (or the fall veto session). That's a high bar to clear. Granted, it worked last year for the NITA bill but the bill sponsors had to work nonstop during the intervening months to build consensus and votes...

[Tom In Chicago]

Good riddance. . . the Bears are a shite product. . .

. . . Go Pack go!

. . .