Bears have a make-good duty, too

I found your “Pritzker: Bears’ lakefront proposal still ‘a non-starter’” story in the May 2 edition refreshing, because I do not often agree with Gov. Pritzker’s views. The story is disturbing too, because, given other needs, issues and events that are on the table at this time, it is unseemly that so much ink has been spilled and so many words uttered about the Bears’ desire to build another football palace on Chicago’s Lakefront. But there it is for all to be thrilled about — or not.

I have reviewed just about all that has been made public about the proposal. My conclusion is that it makes no financial sense for Chicago and Illinois taxpayers; and it is wrong to further despoil the Lakefront. Also, the Bears do not need a stadium, they have one. But they want a new one; and they want Illinoisans to incur debt and commit billions of current and future tax revenues to build one for them. Economic researchers have repeatedly shown that publicly funded sports stadiums never live up to their financial promises.

However, this is Illinois, where the interests of taxpayers do not matter. Thus, it is likely the Bears will get whatever they want. If so, I suggest suburbanites lobby long and hard to make sure the deal has money in it for the village of Arlington Heights (and other taxing bodies in that area) which spent loads of elected officials time, paid staff time, consultants time and incurred other expenses while the Bears’ management jerked them around with a fairy tale about the team wanting to build a new stadium on the grounds of the once beautiful, but now-destroyed Arlington Park. A make-good donation of that 300-plus-acre site to those taxing bodies seems as reasonable as anything in the Bears’ most recent proposal.

Charles F. Falk

Schaumburg