CHICAGO HOPE: BEARS' BESTOWAL BOOSTS STADIUM CHANCES

     Bears officials said Thursday that the team has agreed to
come up with $175M of the $415M needed to build a new domed
stadium, diminishing a "taxpayer perception that the team's
owners were getting a bailout," according to Rick Pearson of the
CHICAGO TRIBUNE.  Ted Phillips, Bears' VP of Operations, would
not detail how the team will generate the money and the project
still lacks the support of Mayor Richard Daley, who wants a
refurbished Soldier Field instead of a new dome.  Phillips
admitted more details, including the stadium's design, are needed
before agreeing on the facility. Phillips: "There hasn't been
enough progress in the design phase for anyone to say that the
Bears are looking for too much or too little.  And the revenue
streams of a stadium are triggered by the design."  IL Gov. Jim
Edgar's stadium proposal would not require any new taxes but
would use existing tourism and restaurant taxes levied when
McCormick Place was expanded in '91 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/12).