Mayor Lightfoot is becoming even more delusional on the Bears stadium situation
There have been so many talks in the past months about the potential relocation of the Chicago Bears.
In fact, last month, the Chicago Bears hired an architecture firm and consultants to help them draw up plans for a new stadium in Arlington Heights. That sent a very big signal that the team is serious about bolting from Soldier Field in favour of the suburbs. In addition to that, last fall, the football team agreed to pay $197 million to buy the 325-acre site from Churchill Downs Inc., but the sale isn't expected to close for perhaps another year.
Earlier today, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had a very interesting quote on the Mully And Haugh radio show:
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I don't think this makes sense at all. It,s hard to understand how she can be so confident that she will make the bears change their mind on the subject when the project has been in place for years now and it makes so much more sense for the Bears to relocate. We also don't know if Lightfoot will be the mayor for much longer...
Let me remind you that last month, the mayor talked about the possible renovations to Soldier Field by mentioning a couple of minor changes to the surrounding of the stadium and also trying to upgrade the fan experience. But, the biggest bomb she dropped was a potential addition of a roof on top of the stadium.
This would change a lot of things. On paper, it would seem great. The stadium could be of use for more sports events or shows all year round. However, is it really possible? The answer is probably not.
First of all, the cost of this would be huge. I'm not sure they would have the budget for that. But, for the sake of the argument, let's say they did have the money for it, can it be done.
Dirk Lohan, architect of the last renovation says it is not a great option. Technically speaking you can do something like that. It would be extremely expensive because the support columns have to be outside. He then goes on during an extending interview with WGN that it could cost in the billions to make it happen. At this point, it is not worth it at all to do that for Soldier Field that, by the way, is the single oldest stadium in the NFL.
One thing is for sure, this subject of discussion is just getting started...
