Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said Thursday the city would make a perfect home for the Chicago Bears football team.
He’s said it before, and many wrote it off as wishful thinking.
But Irvin was realistic when he said Aurora would make a perfect home for the Bears if other places cannot bring them across the goal line.
“If the Bears don’t stay in the city of Chicago, and can’t work it out in Arlington Heights, we will work as hard as we can to get them to the city of Aurora,” Irvin said.
Along with Arlington Heights and Aurora, Naperville, Waukegan, Rockford and Richton Park have expressed interest in being the new home of the Bears if the team leaves Chicago.
To show its commitment, Aurora recently reached out to former Bears wide receiver Dennis McKinnon, a key member of the 1985 Bears’ Super Bowl championship team, to be a sort of liaison between the city and the Bears, if that would become necessary.
He said if negotiations proceed, and things change in other places, the city would be looking to “partner” with McKinnon as the city’s representative. McKinnon recently visited City Hall and spoke with the mayor and other city officials.
“He was in the city of Aurora on our behalf,” Irvin said. “He is a viable option if we are in the running.”
According to a city press release, McKinnon spent more than an hour with the mayor discussing various topics, “including why Aurora is an ideal new home for the Bears and why McKinnon’s legendary teammate Walter Payton chose Aurora to open his Walter Payton’s Roundhouse restaurant in the mid-1990s.”
The news release said that throughout McKinnon’s post-playing career, he has been an executive spokesperson and brand ambassador, radio host and author. He also served as the vice president of the NFL Retired Players Association’s Chicago Chapter.
Irvin has submitted a letter of interest to Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren, and the city said they have “been in communication with the Chicago Bears site selection agency to present site options.”
At the time the city sent the letter in June, the city said the Bears “responded quickly and positively.” A spokesperson for the Bears at the time said it is the Bears responsibility “to listen to other municipalities in Chicagoland about potential locations that can deliver on this transformational opportunity for our fans, our club and the state of Illinois.”
Irvin on Thursday still would not mention specific sites in Aurora, saying it would affect the market for the property, and that the sites are owned privately. He said the project would need between 50 and 100 acres, and “we’ve got a couple of places” in mind.
He said because of the size of the project – it could be as high as $1 billion with all the entertainment infrastructure the Bears are looking at – the city would be taking a regional approach toward any project.
That could mean partnering with other cities, such as Naperville, county government and the state of Illinois, he said. And he said to avoid any of the tax structure issues the Bears are reportedly facing in Arlington Heights, there would be plenty of meetings “to bring all the parties together – the other taxing bodies, the assessor – so there are no surprises.”
“We would be partners,” he said.
Irvin reiterated his reasons for considering Aurora a perfect place for the Bears – access to both the Interstate 88 expressway and the Metra train system, and it has a regional airport.
He said Aurora has shown it can work with a major project like the Hollywood Casino resort. It has housing stock of all kinds, for Bears employees and millionaire players.
“We have all the amenities they need,” he said.
Irvin even offered a new moniker for the Bears, to replace the traditional Monsters of the Midway nickname, playing off Aurora’s name as the “City of Lights.”
“The Bright Lights Brawlers,” he said.
slord@tribpub.com
