KENOSHA, Wis. — It has been more than three years since the Bears began taking concrete steps toward building a new stadium, first by buying a 326-acre lot in Arlington Heights before shifting to a lakefront dome just south of Soldier Field. The more it drags on, the more questions pop up.
It was unsurprising, then, when team president Kevin Warren got asked about it multiple times Friday during an appearance at Carthage College’s Spotlight on Sports. When dean Jim Padilla asked if he’d explored any of the vacant property “north of the border,” it was only slightly far-fetched given how many cities have tried to get in the mix since the team fell out of love with Arlington Heights over a dispute on property taxes.
Warren laughed as he shot down the idea of moving to Wisconsin and reiterated that the south lot, which he has touted as “the most beautiful piece of property in the United States,” is his top target.
“I want to make sure the Bears remain authentically the Chicago Bears,” he said. “If you’ve been to a game at Soldier Field… There’s something magical about this franchise. I want to do everything I possibly can to be an authentic leader here and make sure we honor the tradition, but also bring some innovation to it.”
Throughout the organization’s movement toward the lakefront property, Warren has continued to float the Arlington Heights option and last month called it “still an opportunity.”
The Bears are running low on time to meet Warren’s goal of breaking ground in 2025 and opening in 2028. As he pointed out in April when the team unveiled renderings of the proposed stadium, “time is money,” and construction costs will only increase if there are delays.
They have yet to secure support in the state legislature for the $1.2 billion in bonds they’re seeking to help fund a project they’ve said will cost a total of $4.7 billion. In April, Governor JB Pritzker called their initial pitch for financing “a nonstarter,” and House Speaker Chris Welch said a vote on that pitch “would fail miserably.”
Warren didn’t hold availability for reporters at the Carthage event, but a student pressed him on the merit of public funding for a stadium during the Q&A segment. The Bears have said the project would create 43,000 construction jobs and more than 4,000 permanent jobs.
“It becomes a magnet for activity,” Warren said. “Stadiums give people hope that we have an opportunity to build something. That’s what construction does. Construction is another way of saying there’s progress and hope and belief.”
The Bears could still make a push in the state legislature’s fall veto session in mid-November, though Pritzker said in July that would be “near impossible.”