Arlington Heights Officials Hope To Huddle With Bears In The Fall

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL —The Chicago Bears don’t expect to close on 326 acres of what team officials call one of the most unique properties in the greater Chicago area until early next year, but Arlington Heights village officials won’t need to wait that long before getting an idea of what one of the NFL's charter members have in mind for Arlington Park.

Mayor Tom Hayes said at a recent Rotary meeting that he and other officials expect to see plans for a proposed future home of the Bears when they meet with team officials sometime this fall. The Bears, who have been unable to strike a deal with the City of Chicago that would keep them at their current Soldier Field home, signed a purchase agreement for the former site of Arlington Park Racetrack for $197 million last fall.

Team officials have said it is too early to determine a specific timeline for the proposed stadium project to take the next steps, but Hayes is anticipating the project to be a win-win for everyone involved.

"We are working together very carefully with them to make sure that all the I's are dotted and T's are crossed before they sign their final agreement," Hayes said during his State of the Village during a Rotary Club luncheon last month.

He added: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for not just the village of Arlington Heights but for the Chicago Bears and this region to develop 326 acres of prime real estate. Opportunities like this don't come along very often."

The Bears announced earlier this year that they have hired an architect and other consultants to help them through the design phase of the project.

Hayes told the Daily Herald that he doesn’t expect the meeting in the fall to include specific designs for the property. He said that it will be specific enough, however, to allow the team to move forward with an initial agreement with the village before the deal on the sprawling piece of real estate closes early in 2023

"We don't have plans that we're reviewing. We're not doing that," Hayes said. "But we have met with the Bears, certainly, and we've been working together with them."

As designs are worked on, however, Hayes said that he wants the new look of the property to pay homage to the land’s former tenant and that honor the connection the racetrack has had with Arlington Heights over the years.

After all, the mayor is hoping that the Bears — who played at Wrigley Field before moving to Soldier Field — are suburban residents for the long term.

"We're hoping,” Hayes told the Daily Herald, “they're going to be at least 50 years in Arlington Heights."