Illinois politicians and season ticketholders alike are expressing skepticism on the Bears’ plans for a new stadium, NBC Chicago’s Charlie Wojciechowski reports.
A number of Chicago Bears season ticket holders watched on Wednesday as the team took the wraps off plans for a domed stadium along the lakefront.
Tom Werner was among the loyal fans who had questions.
“So when (Brandon) Johnson says no new taxes, well, where’s the money going to come from?” asked Werner, who used to work in the financial industry. “Bonds aren’t free. Interest has to be paid.”
And when it comes to getting in and out of the museum campus, he had concerns, too.
“Accessibility is a disaster; it takes forever to get in and out of there.” Werner said. “The parking is awful.”
Werner said fans and taxpayers need to know more about the stadium before they can embrace the deal.
“It’s going to be a cool place, if you could just snap your fingers like 'Bewitched' and be there, but I don’t think they have done nearly enough for accessibility, and I don’t think they have the foggiest idea how they are going to pay for this thing,” Werner said.
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Both the governor and lawmakers in Springfield have expressed concerns about the plan, which could require billions of dollars in public financing.
“There are things about this that don’t make sense for taxpayers,” Pritzker said Friday as he once again expressed skepticism about the use of public dollars.
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But when it comes to new stadium funding, lawmakers in Springfield said the idea is not yet dead - they just want a different deal. “I am glad to see that the Bears have put some of their own money in there, that’s a really good first step and we will go from there,” said Illinois Sen. Ron Peters, a Democrat from Chicago.
Illinois Rep. Kam Buckner, also a Democrat from Chicago, said "we have to be smart and prudent about how we move forward."
“I have been very clear about the fact that I want the Bears to stay in this city, but we have to be skeptical and optimistic at the same time," he stated.
Werner said the Bears got part of the plan right.
“To the Bears credit, they have the right people involved to design the stadium (it) looks like it’s going to be awesome,” he said.
