Jim O'Donnell: Talk of Arlington Park 'Astrodome' began more than 50 years ago

A LITTLE MORE THAN FOUR MONTHS AGO, The Daily Herald ran the headline "It's time for George S. Halas Stadium at Arlington Park."

The core concept wasn't new.

Still, skeptics were slow to comprehend: A new set of circumstances was aligning that makes the idea of the Bears building a new-age colossus on a portion of the land currently housing Arlington Park more plausible than ever.

Downers also cited the fact that "Papa Bear" George Halas, son Mugs Halas and then-Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Ryan held extensive talks starting in 1975 about getting the team to AP.

That initiative failed. It also set off assorted reloads between the Bears and the village - including past Mayor Bill Maki and Mike McCaskey - that ended in futility.

Thus, the natterers concluded, it will never happen.

But with the Bears of 2021 officially in the hunt for Arlington land, the caustic chorus is quieting.

And, a deep archaeological dig produced proof that the original idea of a super stadium at Arlington did, in fact, extend back to the winter of 1968-69.

Track duchess Marje Everett was in the process of completing a merger with Gulf & Western. The $30M stock exchange made Arlington the first publicly held racetrack in America.

In an article dated Feb. 6, 1969, Everett told Chicago Tribune racing reporter Tom Rivera:

"Gulf & Western is also making a feasibility study which could lead to construction of a domed, all-purpose sports arena such as the Astrodome at Houston."

Further truth, at a holiday luncheon two months prior to that scoop du jour, Everett told a daily columnist for the Arlington/Mount Prospect Day, "The Bears could be moving out here. But don't write it yet. The National Football League wants them out of Wrigley Field."

(That columnist ran it past her insouciant paperboy son.)

Now, all past is prologue.

And the core concept isn't new - just more plausible than ever.

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• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.