Column: Lake County officials have nothing to lose by making a stadium pitch for the Chicago Bears

As long as real bears are roaming Lake County, we might as well make a pitch for the gridiron Bears. Seems like other locales are trying to lure them, so perhaps county economic development officials have a new stadium package prepared for the team.

Folks may have missed the black bear sightings last week first lumbering near Gurnee Mills, then in the backyard of an Antioch-area home. State wildlife officials didn’t seem too upset about a rare bear encounter.

The ursine sightings must be the first such in the county, although we have had bison and cougar visitors in the past. Black bears were once common in the county until our forefathers disposed of them in the late 1870s in favor of farms and pioneer housing.

With the glimpse of the beasts at least Lake County can claim there’s some real bears here, compared to those suburbs who want to be the eventual home of the Monsters of the Midway.

Having a new Chicago Bears stadium in Lake County would piggyback on the team’s current headquarters and training facility at Halas Hall in the Conway Park section of Lake Forest, just east of the Tri-State Tollway. Talk about your synergy.

Some longtime residents may recall the 1970s idea of “The Colossus,” a pie-in-the-sky plan for a football stadium at fallow property, which remains available, between Route 120, the Tri-State Tollway and O’Plaine Road on Waukegan’s far west side. That’s when dreams were big and everyone wanted a piece of a sports team. Hello, Chicago Bears.

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Not so much anymore as sporting businesses worth billions of dollars want taxpayers to pick up part or all of the cost of building new facilities. It happens not only here, but in other regions across the nation where professional sports teams dwell.

Yet, cities still envision trapping a Bear or Raider or Brewer or Athletic. Which is what is occurring with the Bears apparently shopping for a site for a $5 billion new venue with accouterments: Playing one locale against another.

That also happened in the summer of 1970 as developers first approached Libertyville to annex the sprawling Cuneo properties along Milwaukee Avenue and Route 60. When some residents questioned what eventually became New Century Town and Hawthorn Center, developers appeared at the next Vernon Hills Village Board meeting and trustees annexed the property. The rest has been history, turning Vernon Hills from paper village to retail colossus.

There’s nothing wrong with developers negotiating favorable terms. Or community officials using all sorts of enhancements — tax breaks, infrastructure improvements and promises of more — to entice businesses to locate in their towns. Some are winners with touchdowns; some leave taxpayers with a loss of yardage.

The Bears currently are playing coy over what to do with the old 326-acre Arlington International Racecourse, which the team purchased in February for $197 million. After getting pushback over the stadium project from some corners in Arlington Heights, and a high Cook County assessment on the property, the team received an invitation from Naperville’s mayor to move to the western suburb.

If that’s the case and everybody’s in the draw for the Bears, Lake County has nothing to lose by throwing in its own proposal. The fan base is certainly here, and there’s property available to suit the Bears’ needs.

Team officials also met last week with new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to hear what he has to offer to keep the team in Soldier Field at the Chicago Park District’s lakefront facility. Even with team officials noting the Arlington Heights proposal could be “at risk,” they plan to hold an informational open house later this month with residents, according to a report in Pioneer Press.

Meanwhile, football marches on. The team holds its mandatory minicamp from June 13-15, marking the final organized set of practices before training camp in late July at Halas Hall. Training camp dates have yet to be announced, but one of the sponsors is Visit Lake County Illinois, the county’s umbrella group for tourism.

Like the lonesome bears plodding around northern Lake County, the Chicago Bears seem to be looking for a new home where they would be welcomed. Unlike Goldilocks, who just crashed those three bears’ fairy tale cottage.

Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.

sellenews@gmail.com.

Twitter: @sellenews