After watching Charlie Brown unsuccessfully try to kick the football out of Lucy's hands a certain number of times, you start to wonder if he ever will. It seems the Chicago Bears are following in Charlie Brown's footsteps.
The latest twist in its yearslong stadium epic features Chicago developer Sterling Bay reportedly throwing its name in the mix to develop a new home for the team in Bridgeport.
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Chicago architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill unveiled renderings Wednesday on its Instagram page for a "conceptual proposal" of a Bears stadium at the site of Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox.
Renderings shared with stakeholders state that the stadium and campus are "presented by Sterling Bay," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
A Sterling Bay spokesperson did not confirm or deny the developer's involvement with the proposal to Bisnow.
"We think this is a real viable solution to keeping the Bears in Chicago," the spokesperson said.
It's unclear if the team has been involved in these plans, and previous proposals from the Bears have included an Arlington Heights site, a lakefront location and even a move across the border to Indiana.
The upcoming November veto session for the Illinois state legislature could provide additional insight into the team's future. Gov. JB Pritzker has said it could be "exactly the right time" to consider a proposal that would involve the team financing the construction of an Arlington Heights stadium and leasing it from an entity created by the village.
SOM Managing Partner Adam Semel told Bisnow in a statement that the proposal aimed to test the viability of bringing the team to Bridgeport.
The company wrote in its Instagram post that it identified a large amount of publicly owned land surrounding the site that could leverage existing transit infrastructure.
"We envision the new Bears stadium as the centerpiece of a mixed-use district that brings together housing, entertainment, hospitality, parks, and public recreation," SOM wrote in a social media post.
A Bears Bridgeport move would only be possible if the White Sox vacated the site and headed north, as team minority owner Justin Ishbia teased with a set of renderings released earlier last month.
As Ishbia seeks to take over Amtrak land in South Loop for the stadium, Amtrak secured land in Bridgeport with the aim of building a 24/7 maintenance facility. The project has seen significant public pushback, with the federal government agreeing to an environmental review of the proposed facility earlier this week.
Alderperson Nicole Lee, whose 11th Ward encompasses the stadium, told Bisnow in a statement that she intends to keep the White Sox in Bridgeport for the long term and doesn't accept the assertion that it's a foregone conclusion the team is leaving.
If that were to happen, she said she would be interested in a discussion about the relocation of the Bears. Lee told the Sun-Times that the plans are "real pretty pictures," but that there is still a lot of extensive conversation needed on the proposal.
"Above all, we will reject any deal that involves moving a 24/7 Amtrak maintenance facility to the center of this residential area, as has been proposed in the context of a potential White Sox relocation," Lee told Bisnow in a statement.
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