"Everything is on the table."
That's what Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren said about the team's plan for a new football stadium back in August.
For months, the Bears had been solely focused on the site of the former Arlington International Racecourse with the intention of exploring building a closed-roof stadium. Demolition work was completed earlier this month, according to the Daily Herald. The team, though, is now at an impasse with Arlington Heights over property valuation, as it affects future tax bills for the Bears.
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With Warren making it clear the organization was looking at multiple options, including remaining at Chicago's Soldier Field, other municipals have thrown their hat into the ring as potential stadium sites.
These are the suburbs, so far, that have made an official pitch to become the Bears' new home:
With the Bears and Arlington Heights battling over taxes, Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli sent Bears president Kevin Warren a letter offering Naperville as the potential new home for the Bears.
"The city would welcome the opportunity to review your business needs and our available properties," Wehrli's letter said. "Through prudent planning, Naperville is accessible via our region's major interstates and Metra. We have several available or to-be-available sites that may fit the characteristics you are looking for in your future home."
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Ten days after Naperville attempted to enter the stadium discussion, another suburb entered the chat. Waukegan Mayor Ann B. Taylor sent the Bears a letter asking them to meet to discuss the opportunities available for the franchise in the suburb.
“We believe that the Monsters of the Midway deserve the opportunity to continue the tradition of playing along the shores of Lake Michigan, with the market opportunity of having a year-round facility capable of hosting other major events, including the Super Bowl, the Final Four, and other events of an international scale," Taylor wrote in her letter.
Aurora also tried their hand at convincing the Bears to come their way.
". . . Welcoming a historic organization such as the Chicago Bears would enhance our bold vision for Aurora and will provide the Chicago Bears with a new home to begin the next phase of your storied history. We invite you to visit our great city to explore the exciting opportunity Aurora can bring to the world-famous Chicago Bears."
Country Club Hills is the latest municipal to make an overture, according to a press release sent out Tuesday.
“In September, I sent a letter to Chicago Bears’ matriarch Virginia McCaskey and (President Kevin) Warren inviting them to consider a site in Country Club Hills,” commissioner Monica Gordon said. “Mayor James Ford and I also are imploring the team to look at the south suburbs as an opportunity to have a positive economic impact on a part of the Chicagoland area that is ignored all too often.”
The letter cited the success of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers’ new stadium in Inglewood as a blueprint of a site “transforming a predominantly Black area into a thriving residential, business and entertainment district,” according to the press release.