Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor has joined other Chicagoland communities in trying to lure the Chicago Bears to their municipality.
Taylor suggested to Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren in a letter written Monday that the Bears build a new stadium on lakefront property in Waukegan, expanding the team’s footprint in Lake County.
Taylor said in her letter there are several locations with the necessary land to build a stadium and entertainment area with easy access to Interstate 94, U.S. Route 41 and public transportation. The Bears already train in Lake Forest, making Waukegan an excellent location for a stadium, she wrote.
“The City of Waukegan has multiple large parcels including lakefront property which could be developed into both the state of the art stadium and entertainment district the team has publicly expressed in building,” Taylor said in the letter.
The Bears acquired the former Arlington International Race for $197 million with plans to build a stadium and large development there. Naperville recently began discussions with the team to locate in that suburb, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he will make an effort to keep the team in the city.
Bears Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communications Scott Hagel said in an email Tuesday the team issued a statement June 2 about potentially talking to other suitors, and the team’s position has not changed since then.
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While the Bears will continue with the current demolition work in Arlington Heights, the team said in its statement it is talking to other municipalities about possible locations because of recent developments with the Arlington Heights location.
“The property’s original assessment at five times the 2021 tax value, and the recent settlement with Churchill Downs for 2022 being three times higher, fails to reflect the property is not operational and not commercially viable in its current state,” the team said in the statement.
While the Bears continue to consider locations other than Chicago or Arlington Heights, Lake County Partners President and CEO Kevin Considine said Waukegan is a place worthy of consideration. Halas Hall, the team’s practice facility, is less than 15 miles away from the city’s lakefront.
“From what we see, there are a number of potential sites for a Bears stadium in the Chicago area and Waukegan is absolutely one of them,” Considine said. “We understand the Bears needs, and we have the ability to meet them. The Chicago Bears have been an important community partner in Lake County for a long time.”
Along with a history of training in Lake County since the first Halas Hall was built on the campus of Lake Forest College in 1978, Taylor said in her letter Waukegan can offer the team an opportunity to continue to play along Lake Michigan which the other suburbs bidding to host the stadium cannot.
“We believe that the Monsters of the Midway deserve the opportunity to continue the tradition of playing along the shores of Lake Michigan, with the market opportunity of having a year-round facility capable of hosting other major events, including the Super Bowl, the Final Four and other events of an international scale,” Taylor wrote in the letter.”
