Bears get permission to begin demolishing Arlington Park racetrack

Posted by Josh Alper on May 26, 2023, 5:54 PM EDT
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The Bears finalized their purchase of the Arlington Park racetrack earlier this year and they hope to build a new stadium on the site in the coming years.

One step toward making that happen is the demolition of the track and the team is set to start that process. Arlington Heights granted the team permission to start demolishing the interior of the track on Friday and a Bears spokesman said, via Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times, that the demolition work will begin next week.

The team will need separate permission from Arlington Heights and Cook County for exterior demolition.

The Bears have a lease at Soldier Field through 2033, but they can negotiate an earlier departure if construction moves forward at the Arlington Park site.

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27 responses to “Bears get permission to begin demolishing Arlington Park racetrack”

  1. It’s a great site with lots of room to build all sorts of parking lots, restaurants, shops, hotels, and other attractions as well as a stadium. I do hope the Bears decide to put a roof on the stadium, though. Winters in Chicago can get brutal. (I know–I lived there for four years.) Arlington Park will be a wonderful location for the new Bears home. And then, maybe Chicago can get a second NFL team that will play in Soldier Field. That would be cool.

  2. “And then, maybe Chicago can get a second NFL team that will play in Soldier Field.”
    ——————
    Chicago doesn’t need a second team. Chicago had their chance. They bullied the Bears and blew it. They ran a pro stadium and used the park service to maintain the field (like the ones who maintain little league fields). On top of that, they repeatedly hosted field destroying concerts and events before Bears’ games. That’s not even factoring in the safety issue downtown that have led to other businesses leaving.

    Other cities actually deserve a team, St.Louis for instance.

  3. Put a team in St. Louis before a second in Chicago. The Cardinals figured that out in 1960.

  4. Is the team paying for the new stadium or will this be another one of those times when billionaires force working stiffs (who won’t be able to afford tickets to games) to pay for the new stadium?

  5. who exactly will pay for the new $6 Billion stadium & all the infrastructure around it? The Bears? The state? Roger Goodell writing that check? (SoFi cost $5.5 Billion)

  6. They’re done with Chicago. Racetrack coming down so nothing can be done to stop it now.

  7. If historic Soldier field becomes history, Fenway Park, Wrigley Fields and Dodger Stadium will be left as the oldest.

  8. The Chicago Bears occupy the largest market in America by themselves. One of the oldest teams in the NFL. This move will make them the most valuable team in America of any sport. (and I’m a Packers Fan)

  9. Mike Ditka once said that living in the past is for cowards and lovers.

    Its exciting to see th team moving out of the past, and hopefully, into a future that isn’t loaded with mediocrity.

  10. St.Louis? NO…they had a team ….twice and lost a team twice. No and no to San Diego, you only lose teams if the fans fail to show up. Unless you count the Colts you violated NFL rules regarding relocation.

  11. originatorofonline1keeptheroyaltiescoming says:
    May 26, 2023 at 6:53 pm

    The Chicago Bears occupy the largest market in America by themselves.

    ——/——/——/——/

    I assume that “largest market in America” encompasses approximately 4 states?
    Because of course you’re counting all of Illinois,Indiana, Wisconsin & Michigan. Might as well throw in Iowa, Missouri ,Arkansas and Kentucky.
    I don’t even understand why Michigan & Wisconsin have their own teams if they’re part of the Metro Chicago area.

  12. I assume that “largest market in America” encompasses approximately 4 states?
    Because of course you’re counting all of Illinois,Indiana, Wisconsin & Michigan. Might as well throw in Iowa, Missouri ,Arkansas and Kentucky.
    I don’t even understand why Michigan & Wisconsin have their own teams if they’re part of the Metro Chicago area.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Ok, I’ll go slow. Chicago is the 3rd largest market in the US. The first 2, Los Angeles and New York City have 2 NFL teams. Get it?

  13. St.Louis? NO…they had a team ….twice and lost a team twice. No and no to San Diego, you only lose teams if the fans fail to show up. Unless you count the Colts you violated NFL rules regarding relocation.
    _______________________________________________________________________

    Not true.
    Spanos left San Diego because he wanted the larger market of Los Angeles. The Charger attendance at the time was in the upper middle of the pack of the NFL teams.

  14. This PFT Member hopes the Bears choose a delightful brand of carpet to accent what is sure to be a cheeky new stadium. Perhaps the team has the developers of the Metrodome on speed dial? Spend extra on that roof! Indoor football is totally awesome and doesn’t look fake at all.

  16. Wow, they are going to tear down one of the great American Racetracks. So much history at Arlington Park. John Henry winning the inaugural Arlington Million with the great Bill Shoemaker aboard in 1981. In 1996 Cigar wins the Citation Challenge Stakes winning his 16th straight race to tie Citations all-time consecutive win streak. Countless great races. One of the most beautiful turf courses I’ve ever seen. A lot of kings of the turf made their presence felt especially in the Arlington Million which John Henry won twice. Now the Chicago Bears will see if they can rewrite history. Good luck with that!

  17. The Bears will abandon any claim to be Monster of the Midway. Rather, they become Acrobatics of Arlington.

  18. Open roof stadium in a brutally cold and windy city is stupid, especially when that team get clobbered by other team all the time during so called “Bears weather.” Get a real state of the art stadium with a roof so you can host the Super Bowl and to be used in off-season instead just 8 or 9 home games each year. It’s just so wasteful. I can wait for them to move so traffic on Lake Shore drive will clear up in Sundays.

  19. Life-long northern Illinois resident and Packers season ticket holder (grew up closer to Milwaukee than Chicago) … worst-kept secret around here, is that the Bears will be sold, within a few years. Virginia is very old and she knows her kids are buffoons. The whole reason the Bears did this, is because whoever they sell the team to, will also want to own the stadium and the land it’s on. Soldier Field, that’s not possible. When the Bears are in Arlington Heights, I’ll be a 20-minute Uber ride to a Packer road game. Yeah, that works.

  20. The first Super Bowl in Chicago is gonna be something special, with the coin flip by Ditka and the national anthem by Chicago.

  21. Out with the old & in with the new. Let’s just hope that the crowd experience doesn’t get watered down from being too far away from the field if they add a running track around the perimeter of the field. Roof or no roof however, but please stick with a grass field.

  22. Can’t wait to watch the Bears demolish the Lions and send them to the basement for the 7th decade.

  23. Pure example of too much red tape to get something done. It seems another approval is needed to do exterior so in other words another set of politicians that have to be paid off in order to obtain approval

  24. The last thing the Bears need is a dome. If you don’t like football being played in the cold go watch basketball.

  27. Not true.
    Spanos left San Diego because he wanted the larger market of Los Angeles. The Charger attendance at the time was in the upper middle of the pack of the NFL teams.

    _______________________________________________________________________

    I guess we’re gonna ignore that those games were regularly taken over by other fan bases, that local businesses had to buy up tickets regularly so the games weren’t blacked out, that the team tried for years to get a new stadium built in SD, and that ultimately, the fans voted no on a new stadium (which btw, I don’t blame them for).

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