Despite stadium uncertainty, Bears get OK to keep billboard in Arlington Heights

The billboard in Arlington Heights that teases Bears football games — none of which are played in the Northwest suburb or Northwest Indiana, for now — will be able to remain in place for another year, village board members agreed Monday.

The board’s 8-1 vote marks the fifth extension of municipal sign code variations for the digital display on the Bears’ Arlington Park property.

Approvals for the sign formally expired last Tuesday. The extension keeps the billboard in place through June 30, 2027.

Arlington Heights has long had a general prohibition on off-premises advertising signage and electronic changeable signs, though there are some exceptions — the most prominent being the Bears’ 20-by-60-foot double-sided electronic billboard alongside Route 53.

The digital sign atop a 95-foot pole was installed at the former horse racing venue in 2017 by then-owner Churchill Downs Inc., which sought an additional revenue source amid a precipitous decline in wagering. The approval came with the caveat that the sign come down were the racetrack to cease operations.

But board members have granted multiple yearly extensions since the Bears took ownership and knocked down the old grandstand in 2023, and during the NFL club’s ensuing on-again, off-again interest in redeveloping the prime Northwest suburban real estate.

The June 5, 2023, extension came just days after team President/CEO Kevin Warren met with Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli to discuss the possibility of building a new stadium, amid a property tax battle with three Arlington Heights-area school districts over assessments and payments at the 326-acre Arlington Park site.

A year later, Arlington Heights officials agreed to let the team keep the billboard in place, despite the organization’s shift in focus to try to build a new Chicago lakefront stadium.

After the General Assembly in Springfield last month punted on legislation that could clear the way to a new stadium in Arlington Heights, the team’s board of directors voted to advance a stadium project in Hammond, Indiana. Though lawmakers in Illinois maintain that’s far from a done deal, and new legislation is being crafted.

Arlington Heights Trustee Bill Manganaro, the lone “no” vote on the billboard extension Monday night, said the ball is now in the Bears court about where a new stadium will be.

“The original ordinance was written for the racetrack. It stated that if the racetrack closed, the approval went away,” Manganaro said. “I would rather have seen us wait until there is progress to allow the billboard than to drive by sometimes and see an advertisement for the Indiana Bears.”

Team officials haven’t disclosed how much revenue they collect from the billboard, but it was said to have generated $120,000 a year for the old track.