Chicago Bears get OK to begin demolition at Arlington Park
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Chicago Bears will begin demolition next week at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights.
The team said the work will start inside the six-story grandstand and office building. Permits are still pending for demolition on the exterior of the structures.
The Bears closed on the property in February. The team said that the filing for demolition at the site does not mean for certain that they will be developing it.
But the Bears said in February that if their plan for a new stadium at the Arlington Park site does go ahead, the development is projected to create more than 48,000 jobs, generate $9.4 billion in economic impact for the Chicago area economy, and provide $3.9 billion in new labor income to workers in the region, the Bears wrote in February.
Churchill Downs announced in February 2021 that the Arlington racetrack would be going up for sale, and its last horseraces were held in September of the same year.
That same month, the Bears agreed to purchase the Arlington racetrack property for $197 million.
The Bears have been playing at Soldier Field since 1971. They shared Wrigley Field with the Cubs before that. The most recent stadium renovation took place in 2003.
The stadium went through massive renovations nearly two decades ago at a cost of over $600 million. Even with the upgrade, Soldier Field still has a capacity of only 61,500, smallest in the NFL. There are 13 stadiums that hold more than 70,000.
