Are the Bears now considering the old Michael Reese Hospital site for a new stadium?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With plans for a new lakefront stadium going nowhere fast, there is now word that the Chicago Bears could pull a double reverse.
Multiple published reports say the team is now considering the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville for a new stadium location.
Mayor Brandon Johnson was asked about the proposal Tuesday afternoon.
"My goal is to keep them in Chicago, and as long as we're clear about not just keeping them in Chicago, but creating new opportunities for real economic development, that is important," the mayor said.
The mayor claimed the stadium would create 43,000 jobs.
Back in April, the Bears announced a $4.7 billion plan for a new domed lakefront stadium complex, including added green space and other amenities on the Museum Campus and their current home at Soldier Field—shifting the team's focus from a proposal to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights that had been the focus of attention for nearly three years.
Before the plan was announced, but after the Bears said they would spend $2 billion to stay in the city, the group Friends of the Parks suggested that the Bears should build at the Michael Reese site. The group is the same one that helped stop director George Lucas from building a museum along the lake back in 2016.
In 2021, the City Council signed off on a $3.8 billion plan to redevelop the Michael Reese site with 6,800 new homes, as well as a mix of offices, shops, and research facilities.
The city purchased the site for $91 million in 2009, with aims of using it as part of an Olympic village as it bid for the 2016 Olympics. But Chicago lost that bid to Rio de Janeiro, and the old Michael Reese site has sat unused ever since.
Michael Reese Hospital was founded in 1881, and closed in 2008. Its former site is bounded by 26th Street to the north, 31st Street to the south, Vernon Avenue to the west, and Lake Park Avenue to the east.
