(670 The Score) Arlington Heights mayor Tom Hayes continues to believe his village is the best option for the Bears to build a new stadium, and he holds out hope the organization will eventually turn its focus back to the northwest suburb even as it currently moves full steam ahead with a plan to build on the lakefront in the city.
Hayes is under no illusion that the Bears are using the city and the lakefront as a leverage tactic to get a better deal in Arlington Heights, where they own the 326-acre Arlington Park, a property they closed on in early 2023. That was reinforced in his mind Wednesday, when the Bears held a presentation to unveil their vision for a new stadium on the lakefront just south of South Field. The cost of the proposed stadium, which would be publicly owned, would be $3.2 billion. Including infrastructure upgrades that would be needed, the entire project would cost $4.7 billion, according to reporting from the Sun-Times, with taxpayers covering about half of that cost.
“It’s pretty clear based on Kevin Warren’s stated desire to remain on the lakefront that that’s their first option,” Hayes said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Thursday morning. “We’re very happy to be plan B or plan 1A, whatever you want to call it at this point. We’re waiting in the wings if they do get a no on the lakefront. I do feel that the short-term tax issues with the school districts are going to be easily resolved if the Bears do get a no on the lakefront and turn back in our direction. I don’t anticipate that that’s going to be a problem. But that’s just a short-term issue. Then if they do commit back to Arlington Heights, we’ve got a lot of other issues we have to look at. We have to do our own due diligence to determine whether or not a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights would be best for our community.”
Beyond Warren’s desire for the Bears to remain in the city, a tax dispute with three local school districts is another reason that the organization pivoted away from Arlington Heights.
Arlington Heights’ best hope to land the Bears if for key state leaders to continue to give the organization pushback. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has expressed skepticism about the Bears asking for public funding, and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch voiced even stronger opposition.
“If we were to put this issue on the board for a vote right now, it would fail and it would fail miserably,” Welch told reporters. “There is no environment for something like this today.”
Hayes’ sales pitch to the Bears is simple.
“Arlington Heights, we don’t have a lakefront like Lake Michigan, but we’ve got everything else that they said they were looking for from day one, and I believe the Arlington Heights property would provide substantially more revenue were to own not only their own stadium but the whole 326 acres around it to develop that and provide jobs for construction and redevelopment of the entire site,” Hayes said.
Hayes confirmed that he and Arlington Heights continue to have a strong relationship with the Bears, even if they’re on the backburner at this point.
“I’m a big fan of Kevin Warren and the whole Bears organization as well,” Hayes said before making a quick joke. “I was a little hurt, though, when he said that (Chicago) mayor (Brandon) Johnson was his favorite mayor to start off the press conference, but I have great respect for Kevin Warren. We have a good relationship with him over the past year that he’s been with the club, as we had a great relationship with Ted Phillips for two years before that and a great relationship with George McCaskey and Karen Murphy for more than three years now. We have great respect for them. We certainly understand their desire to do their due diligence and explore their lakefront option, but ultimately, we feel that Arlington Heights is still the best option based on what they told us their stated goals were when we first talked to them more than three years ago.”
In an interview on the Mully & Haugh Show earlier in the day before Hayes made his appearance on the show, Warren was asked if there’s any chance the Bears could pivot back to Arlington Heights.
“I’m at the point where as I sit here today, I don’t allow myself to think about that,” Warren said. “Now, I have incredible respect for mayor Tom Hayes, (village manager) Randy Recklaus and all the elected officials in Arlington Heights. I believe we still are the largest landowner there with our 326 acres. That being said, the focus is really on Chicago at this point in time. We’re going to do everything we can to bring this to reality.”
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