On June 5, the Bears announced that their board of directors had met and voted to advance their stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana.
During a press conference Thursday at Halas Hall, President and CEO Kevin Warren reaffirmed that position, saying: "Our sole focus at this point in time is working on a world-class stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, Indiana."
Warren revealed that the Bears have completed their due diligence at the Lost Marsh site in Hammond and that it has been deemed viable for the project. They are currently evaluating a second Hammond site, Wolf Lake Terminal, a process that includes topographical, geographical and environmental studies. Warren also mentioned that the two sites could be merged and utilized together.
"While we were working on the Lost Marsh site, we discovered a potential new site that could even be as good or better than the Lost Marsh site," he said. "So, we're in the middle of that due diligence.
"We're in regular, almost daily communication with the state of Indiana working on this. We have an excellent deal, a win-win partnership together. And the cost of the significance of this decision from a stadium standpoint, we will make sure that we take our time to get this right.
"The representatives from the state of Indiana, all the way from the governor's office to representatives of northwest Indiana, have been phenomenal partners. They've been stellar to work with, very professional, diligent with a can-do attitude."
The Bears had been seeking to build their new stadium in Arlington Heights, but they began focusing solely on Hammond after the Illinois House of Representatives adjourned May 31 without voting on a bill that would provide the tax certainty the Bears were seeking. The team is also seeking infrastructure funds while committing $2 billion of its own money to build the stadium itself.
"We were waiting to see whether there would be some substantive action taken," said Bears chairman George H. McCaskey. "We felt we had presented a pretty compelling case that a stadium in Arlington would be beneficial not only for the Village of Arlington Heights but for the community and for the entire state really: tremendous driver of economic activity, job creation, tax revenue, sales revenue. Ultimately, that argument was unsuccessful."
McCaskey described recent discussions with Illinois lawmakers as "minimal."
The Bears chairman also stated that regardless of where the new stadium is built, the franchise's name would remain the same as it's been since 1922.
"We will be the 'Chicago Bears' whether we're in Arlington Heights or whether we're in Hammond," McCaskey said. "As Kevin said, our focus is on Hammond; that's where we're advancing our efforts and that's where the bulk of our time, attention and resources are being devoted."
While eager to begin construction, Warren declined to provide a timeline for when ground would be broken.
"My wife told me about six months ago, 'don't give any more target dates so just get the work done,'" Warren said. "Greta, I love you and I'm listening to you, so I think the target is the right time. We'll know when it is. But I will say we're making very, very good progress here. We have one site that works, Lost Marsh, and then to have another site is really unique. And we think if that comes together that we will have an absolutely dynamic atmosphere in Hammond, Indiana."
Although Hammond is closer to Chicago than Arlington Heights, McCaskey realizes that some fans will be upset if the Bears move from Illinois to Indiana.
"We feel that anxiety," McCaskey said. "We feel that stress. It's going to require an adjustment. But when I've driven that route, other than a sign telling me so, I wouldn't know that I've just crossed the state border. And as Kevin said, once people see the building, once they get in there, once they understand that our top priority from Day 1 was a world-class stadium experience, we think they'll make that adjustment. We think Bears fans are up for that."
McCaskey likened the potential move to the one the Chiefs are making this year from Missouri to Kansas.
"We think that, ultimately, [Bears fans] will become comfortable," he said. "This has happened with other teams in other markets. Most recently, [the] Kansas City Chiefs. Tremendous legacy at Arrowhead Stadium. They won a lot of games there, a lot of exciting moments. And this is a move across the state line, which I'm sure the Hunt family and Clark Hunt are confident Chiefs fans will be able to make the adjustment. We see many parallels there."
