(The Center Square) – As the Illinois General Assembly considers stadium legislation, the list of potential sites for a new Chicago Bears facility has grown.
Developers have pitched sites on Chicago’s Southeast Side, on a former hospital site in the Bronzeville neighborhood and in Bridgeport, where the White Sox have played for over a century.
State Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, told The Center Square on Friday that he is lifelong Bears fan.
“I want to see them in Chicago, but I also want to see that the taxpayers get the best deal possible,” Sims said.
State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, said the Bears are moving toward a stadium authority model.
“I think there are now four different proposals for a Bears stadium somewhere within the city of Chicago, some of them conceived by major real estate developers,” Cunningham said during a Lincoln Forum panel last week.
The Chicago Democrat said House Bill 958 Senate Amendment 2 is neutral with regard to location.
“The bill we actually passed in the Senate would allow any municipality in Cook County with population over 70,000 to set up a stadium authority,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said the legislation is not only for the Bears.
“Any professional sports franchise could use it as a potential vehicle for building a privately financed but publicly owned stadium. That’s the approach that I think is most likely to move forward as we get back to Springfield.
State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said the sort of public private partnership in Cunningham’s proposal could be good.
“Ultimately, though, should we fall short on sales revenue, who’s on the hook? I do not believe that the state should be on the hook,” Rezin said during the Lincoln Forum.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said many times that protecting taxpayers is his first priority.
If the Bears build on land they already own in Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows Mayor Lara Sanoica and Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz, a former Bears linebacker, want Cunningham’s legislation to include an amendment that would provide their respective suburbs with stadium authority board seats.
“A seat on the authority makes sure the transportation, infrastructure and public safety needs of our residents are part of the conversation from the start,” Schwantz said in a press release issued on Thursday.
The Palatine Village Council is scheduled to take up a resolution supporting the amendment at a meeting on Monday evening.
The Rolling Meadows City Council plans to consider the same on Tuesday.
Pritzker has said that the state would not build a stadium for the Bears, but he would be willing to have the state pay for infrastructure around a new facility as the state does for other businesses.
Greg Bishop and Sean Reed contributed to this story
