Fingers still crossed for Bears stadium

In September of 2021 the Bears reached an agreement to buy the 326 acres known as Arlington Park racecourse from Churchill Downs Corp., who also own Rivers Casino, for $197.2 million. Prior to this, the Bears had no communication with the Village of Arlington Heights nor the State of Illinois. The Bears at that time also announced that until they had all the approvals they needed they would not formalize the purchase.

The Bears named Kevin Warren President on Jan. 12, 2023. The purchase was finalized on Feb. 15, 2023.

Between all of this “yes they are” and “no they aren’t” chaos, we have heard lots about “tax certainty” gibberish and who is at fault. As I look at my tax bill, it is obvious that over 80% of the taxes are school district related. As for the Bear-owned property, there are three school districts involved. Trying to get those three school districts to agree on how they would divide the tax spoils of the new stadium was a disaster waiting to happen.

All of this was public information back in January of 2021. There is no lack of blame to pass around obviously.

As a long time resident of Arlington Heights, I personally feel strongly that Village President Jim Tinaglia and the board did as much as they could with the minimal control that they had.

Fingers still crossed but probably too old to ever see an actual game in the new stadium.

Jack Halpin

Arlington Heights