LAKE FOREST, Ill., — The Chicago Bears stadium saga has taken another turn. Fans woke up to the news on Thursday morning that the Illinois House Revenue & Finance Committee meeting scheduled for 8 am on Thursday was cancelled. Minutes later, Indiana Speaker of the House Todd Huston stated that the Bears will commit $2 billion to a stadium project near Wolf Lake in Northwest Indiana.
That signaled a serious push from the state of Indiana to be the new home of the Chicago Bears. The bill passed without any hesitation, 24-0 in Thursday morning's session, and following that, the Bears have released a statement of their own for Senate Bill 27.
"The passage of SB 27 would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date. We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. We appreciate the leadership shown by Governor Braun, Speaker Huston, Senator Mishler and members of the Indiana General Assembly in establishing this critical framework and path forward to deliver a premier venue for all of Chicagoland and a destination for Bears fans and visitors from across the globe. We value our partnership and look forward to continuing to build our working relationship together."
This is just the latest step for the Bears in getting a new stadium and momentum seems to be favoring Indiana. For the Bears, Thursday's meeting in Illinois being cancelled is a disappointment, but it's not the end of the Arlington Heights property chances. A deal to be completed on Thursday was never realistic. The Bears also haven't come to an agreement with Indiana, either.
There are still ways to go in this saga and it's getting to the point where something has to come to fruition, right? I don't know how it got to this point, but the Bears have Indiana and Illinois battling it out with no significant progress made on a stadium that we have been talking about for three years now.
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