Indiana State Senate approves bill to fund potential stadium for Chicago Bears
The Indiana State Senate this week approved a bill to fund a potential stadium for the Chicago Bears in the state.
The legislation creates a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority, which could finance and build an NFL stadium in Northwest Indiana.
The bill passed the Indiana State Senate by a vote of 46-2 on Wednesday. It now must be voted upon by the Indiana State House of Representatives.
The bill would require the Bears to enter into a lease of at least 35 years. The Bears would pay for repairs and operational costs, but also keep all the operating revenue generated by the stadium. The team also would have the option to buy the stadium for $1 at the end of the lease.
Officials in Gary, Indiana, earlier this month launched a new website detailing plans for three separate stadium locations, on the city's West End near the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, at Buffington Harbor, and at Miller Beach, calling a potential Bears stadium "Gary's Greatest Comeback Story."
The Bears have been oscillating between several possible sites for future stadiums, pressing Chicago politicians for a new domed home on the lakefront that would have cost $4.7 billion including $2.4 billion in public funding; purchasing the former Arlington International Racecourse property in Arlington Heights for $197 million; and even sending a letter to season ticket holders asking what they think about a move to Northwest Indiana.
Illinois lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker have staunchly opposed using taxpayer dollars to help fund a new NFL stadium in Illinois, but have said they are willing to help fund infrastructure improvements such as roads and utilities that would be needed for the project.
Pritzker called the lakefront Bears stadium proposal a "nonstarter," and said public funding for a stadium would be bad for taxpayers. Illinois House Speaker Emmanuel "Chris" Welch agreed, saying on Jan. 7 that lawmakers were focused on affordability during their spring session, not a football stadium.
Meanwhile in Arlington Heights, Mayor Jim Tinaglia and other local leaders have called on Illinois lawmakers to approve a "mega projects bill" that would support large-scale developments, like the Bears' development at the former Arlington Park Racetrack, which the team purchased in 2023.
The prospect of the Bears moving to Northwest Indiana is not new. In 1995, with the Bears' lease on Soldier Field set to expire in four years, the team threw out a plan for a $482 million new stadium and entertainment complex in Gary, Indiana called Planet Park.
As reported by the Associated Press at the time, the complex on the southern shore of Lake Michigan would have included a three-tiered stadium with 9,000 club seats and 138 skyboxes, surrounded by a midway-entertainment concourse, a Bears hall of fame, and parking for 25,000 cars.
Ultimately, the Gary plan fell apart. Lake County, Indiana Council members refused to back the 0.5 percent income tax to fund the new stadium. The Bears ended up staying at Soldier Field, which underwent a massive renovation between 2001 and 2003.
