The Village Board will hold a special Village Board Meeting on Monday, December 9th, at 7 p.m., at Village Hall to discuss the Chicago Bears project at the former Arlington Park property, and an update will be provided regarding a tentative agreement between the Village, School Districts, and the Chicago Bears Football Club. The agenda for the special meeting will be posted on the Village’s website at www.vah.com, under “Agendas and Minutes,” the afternoon of Thursday, December 5, 2024.
The most recent Village Board meeting was, Monday, December 2, at 7:30 p.m. The December 2, 2024 meeting did not include items related to the Arlington Park project.
When considering the football roots of NFL football teams, the Chicago Bears (originally the Decatur Staleys) were actually the second football team to play football in Chicago. The first team was the Chicago Cardinals, originally playing in Chicago as the Morgan Athletic Club (1898-1900), and later as the Racine Street Cardinals (1901-1905, 1913-1918), Racine Cardinals (1919-1921), and the Chicago Cardinals (1922-1959). The Chicago Cardinals became the St. Louis Cardinals from 1960-1987, then were the Phoenix Cardinals from 1988-1993, and recently the Arizona Cardinals from 1994 to the current day.
The Cardinals are considered to be the oldest professional football club in the United States.
The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Conference, and became the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1921 before being renamed as the National Football League for the 1922 season.
The Decatur Staleys (1920) were renamed the Chicago Staleys in 1921, and played as the Chicago Staleys in the 1921 season while the Cardinals team was the Racine Cardinals (name after Racine Street in Chicago). Founder George S. Halas changed his football club’s name to the Chicago Bears in 1922.
Both charter members of the NFL, the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals), are the only two original football teams to survive to the current day in the NFL.
LOCATION FACTS …
Location Facts of Chicago Bears Property in Arlington Heights
The property is bordered by Route 53, Northwest Highway (US-14), Wilke Road, and Euclid Avenue.
The primary access roadway is Illinois Route 53.
A passenger train route is adjacent to the property and close to the proposed stadium (Metra/Union Pacific Northwest Line).
The nearest international airport is O’Hare International Airport, where a developing west entrance is only 8.11 miles away.
The property at Euclid Avenue and Wilke Road is 1.12 mile from downtown Arlington Heights at Vail Avenue and Campbell Street.
The property is 326 acres of land, entirely open for development except for some waterways on the property.
A US Postal Service Distribution Center is located nearby directly across Northwest Highway.
The property will possibly be located in two zip codes — 60005 and 60008.
The Cook County Circuit Court Rolling Meadows is located nearby directly across Euclid Avenue near Wilke Road.
The property is located in Palatine Township in Cook County.
The property is also primarily located in the Village of Arlington Heights with a very small portion in or near the City of Rolling Meadows (near Industrial Avenue and near Commuter Drive).
If built, the Chicago Bears stadium would be the second NFL stadium, in recent years, built on a horse racing course. Inglewood, California’s Hollywood Park (once owned by Churchill Downs) was replaced by SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams.
BEARS STADIUM TIMELINE …
Chicago Bears stadium property interest timeline
June 17 2021 – Chicago Bears announced they had submitted a bid to purchase the Arlington Park property for a potential location of a new football stadium to replace their rental home at Soldier Field (where they’ve played since 1971, which they don’t own, and where their lease expires in 2033).
September 29, 2021 – Chicago Bears Football Club announces the purchase of the former Arlington Park property for $197.2 million.
March 16, 2022 – The Chicago Bears selected Manica Architecture to help with initial plans for their proposed NFL stadium at the site of Arlington International Racecourse.
September 8, 2022 – The Chicago Bears hosted an information meeting at John Hersey High School regarding potential development of a football stadium at the former Arlington Park property.
February 15, 2023 – The Chicago Bears announced that the organization closed on the Arlington Park Property, describing the real estate closure as “another step toward realizing” the vision of a Chicago Bears football stadium at the former Arlington Park racetrack property.
May 27, 2023 – Demolition operations begin at the former Arlington Park racetrack.
April 24, 2024 – The Chicago Bears, at a public presentation at Soldier Field, released plans to build a publicly-owned, state-of-the-art fixed-roof stadium along Chicago’s lakefront.
November 12, 2024 – Crain’s Chicago Business published that with a deal to finance a new domed stadium on the lakefront stalling out in Springfield, Chicago Bears officials are taking a second look at the former Michael Reese hospital site, despite having publicly written off the location.
November 25, 2024 – Chicago Bears reach a tentative agreement with Township High School District 214, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, and Palatine Township Elementary District 15 regarding a property tax dispute for the 326-acre former Arlington Park property owned by the Chicago Bears Football Club.
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