As lengthy as actual bears are roaming Lake County, we would as properly make a pitch for the gridiron Bears. Seems like different locales are attempting to lure them, so maybe county financial growth officers have a brand new stadium bundle ready for the workforce.
Folks could have missed the black bear sightings final week first lumbering close to Gurnee Mills, then within the yard of an Antioch-area house. State wildlife officers didn’t appear too upset a couple of uncommon bear encounter.
The ursine sightings should be the primary such within the county, though we’ve had bison and cougar guests up to now. Black bears had been as soon as frequent within the county till our forefathers disposed of them within the late 1870s in favor of farms and pioneer housing.
With the glimpse of the beasts at the very least Lake County can declare there’s some actual bears right here, in comparison with these suburbs who need to be the eventual house of the Monsters of the Midway.
Having a brand new Chicago Bears stadium in Lake County would piggyback on the workforce’s present headquarters and coaching facility at Halas Hall within the Conway Park part of Lake Forest, simply east of the Tri-State Tollway. Talk about your synergy.
Some longtime residents could recall the Nineteen Seventies thought of “The Colossus,” a pie-in-the-sky plan for a soccer stadium at fallow property, which stays obtainable, between Route 120, the Tri-State Tollway and O’Plaine Road on Waukegan’s far west facet. That’s when goals had been huge and everybody wished a chunk of a sports activities workforce. Hello, Chicago Bears.
Not a lot anymore as sporting companies price billions of {dollars} need taxpayers to select up half or the entire value of constructing new amenities. It occurs not solely right here, however in different areas throughout the nation the place skilled sports activities groups dwell.
Yet, cities nonetheless envision trapping a Bear or Raider or Brewer or Athletic. Which is what is happening with the Bears apparently purchasing for a website for a $5 billion new venue with accouterments: Playing one locale in opposition to one other.
That additionally occurred in the summertime of 1970 as builders first approached Libertyville to annex the sprawling Cuneo properties alongside Milwaukee Avenue and Route 60. When some residents questioned what ultimately turned New Century Town and Hawthorn Center, builders appeared on the subsequent Vernon Hills Village Board assembly and trustees annexed the property. The relaxation has been historical past, turning Vernon Hills from paper village to retail colossus.
There’s nothing incorrect with builders negotiating favorable phrases. Or group officers utilizing all types of enhancements — tax breaks, infrastructure enhancements and guarantees of extra — to entice companies to find of their cities. Some are winners with touchdowns; some depart taxpayers with a lack of yardage.
The Bears presently are taking part in coy over what to do with the outdated 326-acre Arlington International Racecourse, which the workforce bought in February for $197 million. After getting pushback over the stadium challenge from some corners in Arlington Heights, and a excessive Cook County evaluation on the property, the workforce acquired an invite from Naperville’s mayor to maneuver to the western suburb.
If that’s the case and all people’s within the draw for the Bears, Lake County has nothing to lose by throwing in its personal proposal. The fan base is actually right here, and there’s property obtainable to go well with the Bears’ wants.
Team officers additionally met final week with new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to listen to what he has to supply to maintain the workforce in Soldier Field on the Chicago Park District’s lakefront facility. Even with workforce officers noting the Arlington Heights proposal could possibly be “at risk,” they plan to carry an informational open home later this month with residents, in keeping with a report in Pioneer Press.
Meanwhile, soccer marches on. The workforce holds its obligatory minicamp from June 13-15, marking the ultimate organized set of practices earlier than coaching camp in late July at Halas Hall. Training camp dates have but to be introduced, however one of many sponsors is Visit Lake County Illinois, the county’s umbrella group for tourism.
Like the lonesome bears plodding round northern Lake County, the Chicago Bears appear to be on the lookout for a brand new house the place they’d be welcomed. Unlike Goldilocks, who simply crashed these three bears’ fairy story cottage.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
Twitter: @sellenews
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Source: www.bostonherald.com