WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) — The Chicago Bears may have just added another offensive option when it comes to the team’s future home. The mayor of Waukegan suggested the team invite the Bears north.
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“We believe the Monsters of Midway deserves the opportunity to continue their tradition of playing on the shores of Lake Michigan while also having a year-round facility that can host major events such as the Super Bowl and Final Four. An international event.
One sports business expert called the move smart given the Bears’ ties to Lake County. “Waukegan and the whole area is Lake Forest, and it was home to the Bears for all the games that were played downtown. That’s where the offices are,” Sportscorp’s Mark Ganis said. Last week, Naperville officials held a second meeting with the Bears about the former BP Amoco site along Interstate 88 as a potential site for Bears Stadium.
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And Chicago’s new mayor, Brandon Johnson, is still trying to convince the Bears to stay in the city. The Bears have made it clear they have a responsibility to look beyond the grounds of Arlington Race Course. Local leaders, including grassroots groups, remain hopeful.
“I really think it would be best to utilize the former Arlington Race Course site. I think the Bears showed with this acquisition that they want to make this place a better place. Unfortunately, politics got in the way,” said Holly Connors of Touchdown Arlington. The policy would result in Arlington properties being reassessed at five times their 2021 tax value.
“They are at the center of Cook County politics right now. What are the evaluators trying to impose on the Bears? And what he can do is push this multibillion-dollar project to DuPage or Lake County,” Ganis said. Ganis said most NFL teams don’t pay property taxes because stadiums are owned by local governments. However, those who pay pay a relatively small fixed amount. The latest valuation of the property would cost the Bears millions of dollars each year, an amount the team didn’t want to pay, Ganis said.
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