Bridgeport residents lambaste plan for new Chicago White Sox stadium in South Loop

Plans for a new Chicago White Sox stadium in the South Loop have residents near the existing ballpark in Bridgeport concerned, not just because the team might be leaving, but also what might be coming nearby.

Amtrak plans for a 24/7 maintenance facility near Rate Field have Bridgeport residents fuming mad. 

The new facility would be four stories tall and five tracks wide along a 47-acre site west of Rate Field, between two existing White Sox parking lots. It would replace Amtrak's existing maintenance facility near 14th and Canal streets in the South Loop.

Thousands of Bridgeport residents who live just steps away from the proposed Amtrak facility have fresh reason to be concerned this is going to become a reality. 

"It just really happened all at once. We found about this on August 20th, and we've just been rolling in opposition since," said lifelong Bridgeport resident Maria LaGiglio.

If Amtrak's maintenance facility gets moved from the South Loop to Bridgeport, health concerns top the list for many would-be neighbors.

"Including diesel exhaust, fine and ultrafine particles and black carbon, as well as chronic noise and vibration," LaGiglio said. 

The opposition in the usually quiet community is getting louder.

"I've got to tell you, our community feels pretty disrespected right now on all fronts," said Ald. Nicole Lee (11th), whose ward includes Rate Field and the proposed Amtrak facility.

A few hundred people gathered in the shadow of the ballpark on Tuesday to protest Amtrak's plans and the "categorical exclusion" from the U.S. Department of Transportation that would likely allow the train operator to move forward with the new maintenance facility without a full environmental assessment.

"The categorical exclusion is a huge red flag. A development of this size should not be able to move forward without a full environmental impact assessment," Lee said.

Reality crept closer on Saturday when renderings of a new White Sox ballpark in the South Loop were released by Canal Edge — a company owned by White Sox minority owner Justin Ishbia, who could run the team by decade's end. 

The stadium, tentatively named The Railyards, would sit along the Chicago River from Roosevelt Road to 18th Street near the existing Amtrak maintenance facility in the South Loop. It is across the river from planned megadevelopment The 78.

Ishbia's private equity firm, Shore Capital Partners, is under contract to purchase the existing Amtrak site for a mixed-use development including a new White Sox stadium and a medical campus in partnership with Northwestern Medicine.

"I think Justin Ishbia strategically released those renderings to drown us out and try to dazzle people with like, 'Look what we could have if these people would only let us put our industry there,'" LaGiglio said

LaGiglio believes the renderings released by Canal Edge aren't real.

"I believe, to me those are AI slop," she said.

Lee called the new stadium plan a betrayal of the Bridgeport community. 

"Our residents work at the ballpark. Working-class residents have spent their hard-earned money on season tickets, merchandise concessions, and year after year in support of the team," Lee said, "and I've got to tell you, our community feels pretty disrespected right now on all fronts."

Ishbia did not respond to requests for comment.

Gov. JB Pritzker said he's "excited" about the potential for a new White Sox stadium in the South Loop, but cautioned that Ishbia needs to listen to the concerns that Bridgeport residents are raising about plans to move Amtrak's maintenance operations from the South Loop to Bridgeport.

"I know there are some concerns that have been raised by some local communities. He should be listening to those. The White Sox should be listening to those, and making sure they're taking those into consideration, whatever the site may be," Pritzker said.

In Bridgeport, wins for the home team White Sox have become more frequent this season, with the team leading the AL Central Division after three straight 100-loss seasons.

Hope now shifts to keeping the neighborhood they love unchanged and on track.

Amtrak Chicago has an online meeting scheduled for Wednesday regarding their plans for the new maintenance facility. Many Bridgeport residents said they plan to attend and to be quite vocal.

In 2024, the White Sox and owner Jerry Reinsdorf proposed a possible new stadium not across from The 78 development, but right in the 62-acre site. Renderings at that time showed a new White Sox stadium along the South Branch of the Chicago River, amid a grove of new high-rise buildings.

Construction is now under way for a stadium for the Chicago Fire FC soccer team in The 78.

Rate Field — originally known as new Comiskey Park and later U.S. Cellular Field and Guaranteed Rate Field — opened in 1991. It is located across 35th Street from the former site of old Comiskey Park, the White Sox's home from 1910 until 1990.

Rate Field was financed by the State of Illinois after Reinsdorf had threatened to move the team to the Tampa Bay Area in Florida back in 1988.

The state-run Illinois Sports Facilities Authority owns Rate Field. The White Sox's lease at Rate Field is set to expire in 2029.