Officials from the Bears and the city of Chicago will meet
today as the "final stages of the soap opera" between Bears
President Michael McCaskey and Mayor Richard Daley over a new
stadium are about to begin, according to John Kass of the CHICAGO
TRIBUNE. Yesterday, the team officials repeated their desire to
have the city rotate the playing field at Soldier Field -- thus
allowing seats and skyboxes along the sidelines, but also
boosting the project's cost to $230M (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/30).
The team said they would be willing to find a new home for the
two seasons they believe it would take to rebuild Soldier Field.
Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park have been mentioned as possible
interim homes. City officials called the proposed rotation plan a
stall tactic "aimed a dragging out the Soldier Field talks until
environmental and tax issues confronting" a stadium plan from
Gary, IN, can be resolved. McCaskey met again with skybox
holders Wednesday and the "consensus was clear. The team's
highest-paying customers want to stay in Chicago, not move to
Gary" (Fran Spielman, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/30).
