Mayor backs Bears’ new stadium proposal to state lawmakers, emphasizes need to replace Soldier Field
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been vocally supportive of the Bears’ new lakefront stadium proposal, and he tried to play something of a lead blocker for the team with state lawmakers on Wednesday.
The mayor backed the proposal during the trip he made to Springfield to lobby state lawmakers on behalf of Chicago. Johnson’s private schedule included visits with Gov. JB Pritzker, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and GOP House Leader Toni McCombie.
Mayor Johnson visits Springfield with $1B ask for CPS
While Johnson is backing the Bears’ new stadium proposal, which seeks public funding, state lawmakers have been openly skeptical, the governor’s office calling the current proposal “a non-starter for the state” during a meeting with team officials last week.
Johnson met with reporters late Wednesday afternoon during his trip to Springfield and said conversations with state lawmakers about the Bears’ proposal are ongoing.
But the mayor emphasized the need to replace Soldier Field, which opened in 1924, though a renovation in 2002-03 made major updates.
“You have this asset that is not getting the full benefit for the people of the State of Illinois,” Johnson said Wednesday. “As the Bears continue to have these conversations with (state) leadership, as well as the rank-and-file members, that’s the case that they will have to make.
“But understanding that we have a structurally-damaged situation that really needs a solution.”
On Monday, days prior to the mayor’s trip to Springfield, Johnson and Pritzker appeared together at a groundbreaking inside the former Thompson Center.
Johnson said then he will try to help the Bears with their new stadium proposal, but that’s not his main focus. He said Bears President Kevin Warren is leading the charge.
“I know that President Warren has been in conversations with the General Assembly, along with Governor Pritzker,” Johnson said.
What to know about the Chicago Bears’ new stadium plans
When the Bears announced their new lakefront stadium proposal last month, they said it would cost $4.7 billion, of which the team would contribute just over $2 billion.
However, Illinois Sports Facilities Authority executive director Frank Bilecki told the Sun-Times late last month that the real cost to taxpayers would be close to $7 billion over the lifetime of financing the new stadium. Bilecki’s estimate accounts for retiring existing debt that was used to renovate Soldier Field and to build Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox since 1991.
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