Friends Of The Parks Starts Petition Against Bears Stadium Proposal

CHICAGO — Friends of the Parks, a Chicago-based non-profit organization, is calling for the "immediate halt" to a proposed new stadium for the Chicago Bears along the city's lakefront. Last week, Friends of the Parks started a petition on Change.org showing their opposition to the multi-billion project.

As of Monday afternoon, the campaign has garnered 176 signatures.

Friends of the Parks, which describes itself as "a longstanding advocate for preserving Chicago’s green spaces," said the Bears' proposal "threatens the lakefront's integrity." Earlier this year, the NFL team unveiled plans for a new publicly-owned stadium to be built near the current site of Solider Field. Reports of the price tag for the entire project have varied, with estimates as high as $5 billion, including $3.3 billion for the stadium itself. Team officials said the project would create over $8 billion in regional economic impact following its construction.

In July, Gov. JB Pritzker called any kind of state funding for the Bears' proposed project would be "near impossible" during this fall's legislative session.

"You couldn't actually get it done probably during the veto session and would have to wait until next spring, but in reality, there isn't a proposal on the table right now that would be acceptable to anyone that I know in the legislature," Pritzker said at the time.

In 2016, Friends of the Parks opposed the building of a George Lucas museum in the same area. Mellody Hobson, the wife of the "Star Wars" filmmaker, blamed the group at the time for the decision to nix the Chicago plan. The museum of narrative art was eventually built in Los Angeles.

In February 2023, the Bears closed on a $197.2 million property agreement to buy the former Arlington Park racetrack in Arlington Heights and have since demolished a large portion of the site. While the team has said its priority is building a new stadium in Chicago, Arlington Heights officials have said the Arlington Park property remains in play as a potential future home for the team.

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