A number of Chicago Bears season ticket holders watched Wednesday as the team unveiled plans for a domed lakefront stadium.
Tom Werner was among the loyal fans who had questions.
“So when (Brandon) Johnson says there won’t be any new taxes, well, where’s the money going to come from?” » asked Werner, who worked in the financial sector. “Bonds are not free. You have to pay interest. »
And when it came 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 lot is terrible. »
Werner said fans and taxpayers need to know more about the stadium before they can agree to the deal.
“It’s going to be a cool place, if only you could snap your fingers like ‘Bewitched’ and be there, but I don’t think they’ve done enough for accessibility, and I don’t think they have the any idea how they’re going to pay for this thing,” Werner said.
The governor and legislators in Springfield have expressed concerns about the plan, which could require billions of dollars in state funding.
“There are things in this case that don’t make sense to taxpayers,” Pritzker said Friday, once again expressing skepticism about the use of public funds.
But when it comes to funding new stadiums, Springfield lawmakers said the idea isn’t dead yet: They just want a different deal. “I’m glad to see the Bears have put some of their own money into this, it’s a really good first step and we’ll go from there,” said Illinois Sen. Ron Peters, a Democrat from Chicago.
Illinois Rep. Kam Buckner, also a Chicago Democrat, said “we have to be smart and careful about how we move forward.”
“I’ve been very clear that I want the Bears to stay in this city, but we have to be both skeptical and optimistic,” he said.
Werner said the Bears got part of the plan right.
“To the Bears’ credit, they got the right people involved to design the stadium (it looks like it’s going to be great),” he said.
NBC Chicago
