Illinois Village McCook Makes Pitch To Have Chicago Bears Stadium

The fight to keep Da Bears in the Chicagoland area continues.

After the Illinois House and Senate failed to agree upon a plan to keep the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago, the team is looking at a move to Hammond, Indiana.

At no point has this gone over well with Bears fans.

That Hot Mess: Illinois Lawmaker Makes Last-Ditch Try To Keep Bears In Chicago

Now, there's interest from an Illinois village called McCook, that's about 15 miles southwest of Chicago.

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McCook Mayor Terrance Carr and Clerk Ken Lyons hand-delivered a letter to Chicago Bears leadership in Lake Forest.

One letter is addressed to Bears owner George McCaskey, while the other one is for Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren.

The Pitch

The letters argue that McCook, an industrial suburb, should host the new Bears stadium at 55th Street and East Avenue in McCook, which is currently filled-in quarry.

A company called Vulcan currently owns the 150 acres and has the land listed for sale.

Mayor Carr said he expects the asking price to be about $160 million from Vulcan. His thoughts are that either the Bears or the village buys the land. The Bears would then build a domed, 800-seat stadium, which the team would give to the village. In return, Carr would charge the Bears $1 per year in rent. Since it's then a publicly owned stadium, it would be exempt from property taxes, which is what started this whole problem to begin with.

He also pointed out McCook's beneficial proximity to Interstates 55 and 294.

Mayor Carr knows it's a long shot to get the Bears there but he also knows that if they don't then some other developer will.

McCook isn't the first Chicago suburb to enter their name into the hat for a new Bears stadium. Arlington Heights was also in the running.