Like a quarterback whose team is down by six points with two minutes left and the ball at his own 20-yard line, McCook Mayor Terrance Carr is supremely confident.
He wants the Bears to build their new stadium in McCook, although they’ve announced plans to advance a proposal in Hammond, Indiana.
“They haven’t signed anything,” Carr said Friday. “I’m going to try. I ain’t giving up. Is it a long shot? Yes. But the game’s not over. There’s still time on the clock.”
The Bears on Friday announced their plan to “advance on the stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana, with the exact site to be selected.”
That didn’t stop Carr from sending a letter dated June 5 to Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren outlining his proposal: an 80,000-seat domed stadium in McCook, built on 150 acres of filled-in quarry land at the southeast corner of 55th Street and East Avenue.
Here’s the pitch: The Bears get the land free. They build a $2 billion stadium with their own money. Then they lease it back to the village for $1 a year, while the village covers property taxes on the land only.
“If I can get it out there and get them to come meet me, I can paint a picture that works,” Carr said. “It’s common-sense, out-of-the-box thinking.”
In the letter, Carr touts the site as “available to begin construction immediately to be the best large attendance stadium in the world.” He lists five key elements:
1) A suitable site for the stadium, plus complimentary entertainment and hotel sites.
2) Excellent access to major roadways and mass transit.
3) Local infrastructure capable of handling game-day traffic, with a commitment to improve further.
4) Strategies to maximize the stadium’s value to the Bears with no construction surcharges or hidden costs. The site sits in an enterprise zone, eliminating sales taxes on construction materials.
5) McCook’s status as a home-rule community with an investment-grade rating, meaning the village can move forward without legislative approval from Springfield.
“We have the votes and the desire and the ability to proceed,” the letter says. “We are ready to promptly meet to share our plans and commit to finalize a transaction immediately.”
Carr also envisions building the stadium partially underground to reduce cooling and heating costs.
“We won’t have a problem with the water table in a quarry,” he said. “I’d imagine 150 to 200 feet below grade, it probably stays 70 degrees all year long.”
Carr knows the odds are long. But he’s undeterred.
“Even if my letter or my negotiating keeps the Bears in Chicago or in Illinois, I did my part,” he said.
When asked about the Bears’ Hammond announcement, Carr said he wasn’t discouraged.
“It’s the Chicago Bears. They win all the games in the fourth quarter with 32 seconds left, so I’m not scared,” he said.
He credited Indiana Gov. Mike Braun for being “proactive, not reactive like our governor,” referring to JB Pritzker. But he noted that Hammond’s site presents challenges.
“You’re building on a marsh. You’re trying to move a lake. That’s not an easy thing to do. I don’t think it’s a slam dunk over there,” Carr said.
He also pointed out that his model could work in Arlington Heights, where the Bears already own property.
Still, Carr hopes McCook — a village of fewer than 250 residents — will be the Bears’ choice.
Deb Blazina, 64, a McCook resident, supports the idea.
“I loved it when I first heard it,” she said while waiting for a free hot dog after the June 1 village board meeting. The village had set up a food truck from Joey’s Red Hots in the parking lot as part of its 100th-year celebration.
“Why not McCook? At least we want them,” Blazina said. “I thought the Bears should have built where Reynolds (Aluminum) was. That would have been a perfect spot.”
The long-gone Reynolds site was at the southwest corner of 47th Street and First Avenue and is now home to an industrial park.
Located just north of Interstate 55 and a few miles east of Interstate 294, McCook has “great expressway access” and can easily handle extra traffic on game days, Blazina noted.