Taxpayers still owe hundreds of millions on the 2002–03 Soldier Field renovation, paid from Chicago’s hotel tax until 2032. No Bears proposal so far, including the one reported in October, has dealt with it.
In 2024 the Bears unveiled a domed, publicly owned stadium on Chicago’s lakefront. Here’s what was proposed, why it ran into a wall in Springfield and with parks advocates, and why the team now says no city site works.
Beyond the lakefront, Chicago floated the Michael Reese Hospital site, The 78 and a Soldier Field dome. The Bears and the NFL rejected them all. Here’s why, and why the city keeps trying.