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Even if the Bears leave Chicago, Planning and Development Commissioner Maurice Cox said putting a dome over Soldier Field will remain “one of the options that extends its use for 365 days a year.” He would only say financing the mayor’s $2.2 billion plan to expand, renovate and put a lid on Soldier Field is “pretty complex,” and there are “multiple scenarios for how it could be done.”
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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After the Bears leave, Soldier Field will be no different than an old church the Chicago Archdiocese has abandoned. It will fall into disrepair like other Chicago buildings where there is no money left to maintain them. A future communist mayor will knock it down because of its name, then turn it into a communist plaza honoring some non-white person.
Well Pontiac at least had the good sense to use the Silverdome site for an Amazon facility and get some commercial property tax revenue.
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Chicago Teachers Union and Bass Pro Shops present the biggest monster truck rally of the year! This Sunday, Soldier Field is going to explode when two of the biggest monster truck rivals go head to head. Grave Digger versus The Punisher! It’s metal twisting mayhem! Watch them battle it out under one roof. Don’t miss it!
Pipe Dream Lightfoot will be gone by April 2023 new administrations problem
Horse bolted.
Barn door shut.
Once again folks, Google on the Pontiac Silverdome to read all about the future of Soldier Field. The same arguments were used to extend its life too; except the Pontiac Silverdome already had a dome.
What kind of events will fill the place 365 days per year? With 45,000 seats? You’ve already have the United Center, Wintrust Arena, Rosemont Horizon, smaller venues for events that won’t attract 45,000 people but are the right size. You say you have multiple financial options, give a peek at some of those that don’t include taxpayer support.
Lori is just trying to show some vision before the election. Hey, I got a NASCAR race, and a plan for a dome, and a whole new lakefront complex. Wally, you are right on point. There just aren’t that many events that need 45,000 seats. And the number of bands or performers that use that big of a venue has dwindled to about 5. The big name acts use the smaller venues like the United Center, and if they can sell more than 25k seats they just do two shows. But most important, look at the financials of the Wintrust… Read more »
I won’t even consider going to a DePaul game these days unless they provide armed security on each block for about a 4 block radius of Wintrust. Sad to see, as I remember the vibrancy of Rosemont during most years. Also, it was easy to drive to with the kids in the winter, and felt safe. I think they chipped in about $70 million of funds into an extremely poor location.
What the brilliant politicians are planning to do to is called “Closing the barn door after the horses have run away”. The Bears are leaving, for good, to greener pastures in Arlington Heights and Soldier Field will be a mostly empty lakefront monolith with a $2 billion dome. $2 billion that the city, county and state cannot afford. Brilliant!! That’s why they are politicians.