This is the perfect location. I see the logic. We always so many injured linemen that being able to activate a whole hospital onsite at a moments notice is just sheer genius.
Except that the hospital is gone, demolished, razed, just like the Bears offense. It's a barren piece of crappy land.
LOL, well, they can set up a tent hospital like a MASH unit.
LOL, well, they can set up a tent hospital like a MASH unit.
I heard the tent complex will include an internment facility for all Bears failed HCs and OCs. It's gonna be a BIG TENT.
It will obviously be a state-of-the-art tent too. If we're REALLY lucky, maybe the Park District will cut a hole in the roof and we'll have a homemade retractable roof. One side benefit of this plot is that it looks like prime ground for Virginia McCaskey's tomato plants to grow in the summer. I suspect the real reason the Bears hired Eberflus is due to him being a master gardener who can tend the tomatoes for Ginny in the summers before training camp.
Can't you picture 'Flus pulling weeds out there for Virginia?
Why bring this up today? Are we distracting from the Shameful Waldron fiasco? Typical Bears public address system. hide, deflect, minimize.
I figure that if that is what they're trying to do then it's a fail because most people want to see the team build on their Arlington Heights property - and own their stadium instead of renting this weed-patch from the Park District.
Post by dachuckster on Nov 13, 2024 16:31:15 GMT -6
I'm very familiar with the location of that property. I went to school about a mile away from there (Illinois Institue of Technology). That site is way too small for a NFL class stadium (seating somewhere in the 70,000 to 75,000 range) with parking for 15,000 to 25,000 cars.
The only convenient public transport is the Metra Electric 27th Street station. These trains terminate at the old Illinois Central station just east of Michigan Avenue at the Chicago River in downtown. They also go further south and east and service the far southern suburbs of Chicago. All of the mainstream Chicago public transit uses either the 35th Street stop on the Dan Ryan subway (CTA Red Line) that runs down the middle of I-90 or the 35th Street stop on the CTA Green Line "El". Both are a bit over a mile walk from the old Michael Reese Hospital site.
There is not much to do around the site. The neighborhood is called Bronzeville and has been seriously blighted since the 1950s. Getting from the more populated parts of the Chicago metropolitan area to this site are even more difficult that getting to Soldier Field.
I am starting to understand that Warren is fundamentally a dedicated urbanist. He views this as a Lakefront site (even if you can't see the lake from anywhere on the site itself). And I am sure he wants to help revitalize a blighted area in the city.
But the problem with doing something in the City of Chicago is that it is in the City of Chicago. The city has been hemorrhaging population for 60+ years. Chicago's peak population was somewhere between 3.7 and 4.0 million in the late 50's. The current census estimates are now at or below 2.5 million. The suburbs comprise something between 2/3 and 3/4 of the metropolitan area population. The suburbs have a significant majority of the folks who can afford to buy the tickets.
Getting from the more populated parts of the Chicago metropolitan area to this site are even more difficult that getting to Soldier Field.
I am starting to understand that Warren is fundamentally a dedicated urbanist. He views this as a Lakefront site (even if you can't see the lake from anywhere on the site itself). And I am sure he wants to help revitalize a blighted area in the city.
But the problem with doing something in the City of Chicago is that it is in the City of Chicago. The city has been hemorrhaging population for 60+ years. Chicago's peak population was somewhere between 3.7 and 4.0 million in the late 50's. The current census estimates are now at or below 2.5 million. The suburbs comprise something between 2/3 and 3/4 of the metropolitan area population. The suburbs have a significant majority of the folks who can afford to buy the tickets.
I just don't see this as a viable alternative.
If ever there was a "pound the square peg into the round hole" moment for Kevin Warren it is this Lakefront fixation - now on a location that is faux-lakefront. How do the Bears manage to find these "square peg guys" so often? Coaches, GMs and now the CEO/President. It is disheartening for sure.
Getting from the more populated parts of the Chicago metropolitan area to this site are even more difficult that getting to Soldier Field.
I am starting to understand that Warren is fundamentally a dedicated urbanist. He views this as a Lakefront site (even if you can't see the lake from anywhere on the site itself). And I am sure he wants to help revitalize a blighted area in the city.
But the problem with doing something in the City of Chicago is that it is in the City of Chicago. The city has been hemorrhaging population for 60+ years. Chicago's peak population was somewhere between 3.7 and 4.0 million in the late 50's. The current census estimates are now at or below 2.5 million. The suburbs comprise something between 2/3 and 3/4 of the metropolitan area population. The suburbs have a significant majority of the folks who can afford to buy the tickets.
I just don't see this as a viable alternative.
If ever there was a "pound the square peg into the round hole" moment for Kevin Warren it is this Lakefront fixation - now on a location that is faux-lakefront. How do the Bears manage to find these "square peg guys" so often? Coaches, GMs and now the CEO/President. It is disheartening for sure.
If the city wants to keep the Bears in the city, they'll need to open up some really prime real estate. Somewhere near existing mass transit and expressway access. Somewhere you can walk to/from food/drink/entertainment with a relatively decent level of personal safety. Unfortunately, to do that the city would have to go down the "imminent domain" path. And that would get very contentious and ugly. IMO something that will never happen.
If ever there was a "pound the square peg into the round hole" moment for Kevin Warren it is this Lakefront fixation - now on a location that is faux-lakefront. How do the Bears manage to find these "square peg guys" so often? Coaches, GMs and now the CEO/President. It is disheartening for sure.
If the city wants to keep the Bears in the city, they'll need to open up some really prime real estate. Somewhere near existing mass transit and expressway access. Somewhere you can walk to/from food/drink/entertainment with a relatively decent level of personal safety. Unfortunately, to do that the city would have to go down the "imminent domain" path. And that would get very contentious and ugly. IMO something that will never happen.
That is my take on it too. The gameday experience (stadium experience) is just not good right now. It is not enjoyable. But I could see a vast improvement with that beautiful sports campus in Arlington Heights being developed into something very special for us fans. I would definitely start going to home games again if that happens. In the meantime I'm an "away game" guy going to Bears' away games. The Bears fans travel so well that the atmosphere is pretty good wherever you go. It is a testament to the fans supporting the team even when it is bad football they are watching - and they have been loyal for so many years. Fans deserve so much more than what the McCaskey's are giving them. The family should be ashamed. And renting some armpit location stadium from the City Park District again would be sad. The family owns the property to do better for the fans. They need to stop this crap stadium venture with Chicago and build on the land they already own.
