The Chicago Bears turned the city on its head last year when news broke the organization had placed a bid on the Arlington Park property in Arlington Heights. At 326 acres of land, it represented their first real opportunity to escape Soldier Field for the first time in years. It had been rumored for a long time that the owners weren't happy with their traditional home. Much of that was from not having any actual say in its construction or upkeep. Those decisions belonged to the Chicago Park District.
Every time the Bears proposed upgrades for the stadium, they were almost always rebuffed. Things came to a head after the CPD ignored their proposal to install a new sportsbook to take advantage of legalized gambling in Illinois. The team placed their bid on the Arlington property two weeks after that. They would go on to win that bid. Now they are likely mere months away from closing the deal.
The intrigue doesn't end there, though.
Information continues to trickle out on what is happening behind the scenes. George McCaskey and his advisors continue gathering details on how a new stadium could be constructed. Where it gets interesting is what might happen with the rest of the property. It is well-known the Bears want to build a village surrounding the stadium with other revenue opportunities. According to Robert McCoppin of the Chicago Tribune, one new wrinkle has surfaced in those plans."Village documents obtained by the Tribune show the highest levels of the team’s administration, including Chairman George McCaskey, have been involved in meetings to make the purchase and subsequent construction of a new football stadium happen. The documents showed that the team deposited $125,000 with the village for studies of the stadium proposal, and they also included a former baseball executive’s proposal to add a minor league baseball complex to the site... ...The new baseball fields were proposed by William Larsen, former general manager of the Kane County Cougars minor league team. In an email in February to Mayor Tom Hayes, Larsen wrote that the baseball fields would host four to six teams of undrafted college players. Larsen said he had no financial or other formal backing for the proposal, and hadn’t heard back from the Bears, but was told by scouts and others in professional baseball that there is a need for undrafted players to chase their dreams of playing professionally. He estimated 10 to 15 acres would be needed for the project on the 326-acre site, but did not cite any financing or backing for the deal. He guessed that the games could draw about 450,000 fans a year."
