The Chicago Bears plan to start demolition of the grandstand of the former horseracing track in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, even as the NFL team emphasizes that a $5 billion stadium complex on the 326-acre site is no done deal.
Demolition work on structures including the grandstand at Arlington International Racecourse is set to begin Friday afternoon in Arlington Heights, Illinois, the Bears said in a statement.
That comes after the team began interior demolition last month on the site along Euclid Avenue and Wilke Road, as part of the team’s long-stated plan to build a mixed-use complex with an enclosed football stadium as the centerpiece.
If the Arlington Heights project happens as planned, one of the NFL’s original franchises would move out of the city, where the Bears now play at Soldier Field along Lake Michigan.
Yet since the Bears began interior demolition late last month, the team’s plans for a long-term new home have taken several twists, starting with the disclosure two weeks ago that new Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren talked with the mayor of Naperville, Illinois, about a potential move there.
Talks with the large suburb about 30 miles west of the Bears’ current home came as the team announced the Arlington Heights site, which the team bought for $197.2 million earlier this year, is “no longer our singular focus.”
That statement was a departure from the Bears’ previous insistence that they were focused only redeveloping the Arlington Heights and would not talk with other municipalities, including the possibility of remaining in Chicago.
The Bears welcomed competing options amid dissatisfaction with a sharply increased Cook County property tax bill. The team also has yet to secure zoning approval from Arlington Heights officials or tax incentives that it seeks for what it has described as one of the largest real estate developments in Illinois history.
Since meeting with Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli, Warren also has spoken with new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, although it is unclear if they discussed specific sites. The Bears also have received overtures from other Illinois cities, including Waukegan and Rockford.
The Arlington Heights site is 27 miles northwest of Soldier Field. Waukegan is about 40 miles north, and Rockford is almost 90 miles west.
Talks with other cities could provide the Bears were more leverage as it seeks to reduce its tax bill, land public dollars and negotiate a zoning agreement.
In Friday’s demolition announcement, the Bears emphasized that “the demolition does not mean the property will be developed.”
The Bears’ owners, members of the McCaskey family, have said they want to switch from being a tenant at city-owned Soldier Field to developing and owning a complex where the team could collect revenue from other events in the stadium as well as rent from retail, residential and hotel space.