Meetings With Bears Part Of 'Due Diligence', Naperville Mayor Says

NAPERVILLE, IL — Four days after he and other city officials met with Chicago Bears executives regarding the location of a new stadium, Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli said conversations with the NFL franchise are nothing more — at least for now.

Wehrli addressed media reports about the Bears possibly considering a move to Naperville at the start of Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. Wehrli confirmed that he, along with members of the Naperville Development Partnership, other city staff, and a city council member met with Bears leadership last week.

The mayor characterized conversations with the team as being about “potential business opportunities in Naperville.” He said that discussions such as the ones that have taken place are “standard in principled economic development practice”, especially in a competitive market such as the greater Chicago area as it appears the Bears have now opened up the idea of building a new stadium somewhere besides Arlington Heights.

Wehrli said Tuesday night that no development proposals were submitted by the Bears to city officials during the meeting. He also said that no incentives were discussed, requested, or offered by either party in meetings that have taken place, indicating that talks about a possible move to Naperville remain in an infancy stage.

“No decisions have been made by anyone at City Hall,” Wehrli said.

The mayor said Tuesday that the city will follow established procedures if an idea evolves into an official development proposal. Wehrli said that the process would include a robust public input and review process, including numerous opportunities for the public to comment on the matter as well as a review by city boards and commissions as well as a “very public” process before the city council.

The mayor added that finding ways to put under-utilized commercial properties back to work – especially in the city’s east-west corridor is “mission-critical” for the community as a way of keeping local schools funded and property taxes low, Wehrli said at the meeting.

The mayor’s comments came after the Bears announced last week that the Arlington Park property they closed on earlier this year was no longer the team’s singular focus in finding a new place for the Bears to call home. At issue is the assessed value of the 326-acre site of the former racetrack that the Bears paid $197.2 million for earlier this year.

Demolition had already begun on the site when last week’s meeting with the Bears was announced by the Bears. The meeting came in response to a letter sent by Wehrli to Bears President Kevin Warren offering up the city as a possible landing spot for a new stadium.

“Exploring new ideas and engaging in discussions in doing our due diligence with potential investors or users is in the best interest of our community,” the mayor said Tuesday night, adding that the city will continue to work as a team to attract new jobs, investment and economic development opportunities for the city to keep it “one of the best cities in America.”

The Bears have not ruled out remaining in Arlington Heights but said last week that the idea of building the largest single development project in state history is now at risk in the village. Arlington Heights officials have said that despite the recent announcement, they believe Arlington Heights remains the best option for a new Bears stadium.

While there has been no official movement toward developing a proposed site in Naperville, some residents remain skeptical about such a project. At Tuesday’s meeting, Naperville resident Steven Shamrock said he wondered what the overarching social and economic goal of bringing an NFL stadium to the city would be.

In Arlington Heights, Bears officials have told residents that having the Bears playing games in a new stadium there would provide a big economic boost not only to the village but to the region and to the rest of the state of Illinois.

Shamrock said Tuesday that the “massive project” involves “fundamental changes to the character, livability, cost environment and health” of the city. In addressing the council, Shamrock pointed to several studies that he says demonstrated that there is no clear economic benefit to an NFL stadium being brought into a community.

“Envision, if you will, 80,000 people driving into our town at least 10 times per year …cars idling, spewing exhaust, deafening noise at an event that will span a good chunk of Sundays — days that most people like to have quiet time,” Shamrock said. “Would you want to live near that?”

Shamrock said that he believes traffic in Naperville is already enough of a problem and pointed to crime rates in Naperville – much of which, he said, comes from people outside of Naperville.

“The overarching question isn’t ‘Are sports stadiums good or bad?” Shamrock said. “It is rather, ‘Is an NFL stadium in Naperville good or bad?”