Chicago Bears to hold community meeting about potential purchase, development of Arlington Park

CHICAGO - Soldier Field is dressed up and ready for football season.

However, insiders are saying that an announcement made by the Bears Thursday all but guarantees that their playing days at Soldier Field are numbered.

"The Bears are clearly, entirely, completely and exclusively focused on Arlington Heights," said sports consultant Marc Ganis of Sportscorp, LTD.

On Thursday, the Bears posted an invitation to the public about a community meeting next week in Arlington Heights.

The meeting is set to unveil conceptual plans for a "transit-oriented mixed used entertainment district anchored by a stadium that would be one of the largest development projects in Illinois State History."

"This is a low-risk way of presenting that information and getting some feedback as to whether there's pushback, not on the stadium, but on the other development which is going to pay for the stadium," Ganis said.

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The development would go in on the massive footprint of the former Arlington Race Track, and Ganis says outside of the 70,000 capacity stadium, the entertainment district would be similar to facilities already built in LA, Arlington, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia.

Ganis said it's likely to include, "nightclubs, concert facilities, theater facilities, certainly restaurants, certainly hotels."

Ganis also predicts a major sports gambling facility to be a part of the Bears' initial presentation.  

If you want to attend next week's meeting, it's happening Thursday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.