Chicago businesses 'hurt' and concerned over Bears plan to move ahead with Hammond stadium

Downtown and Near South Side businesses and community organizations were disappointed by news that the Bears plan to leave Soldier Field for Hammond, Indiana.

The move — announced by Bears Chairman George McCaskey on Friday — is “a big blow not only for the city, but the Near South Side,” Bonnie Sanchez-Carlson, president of community organization Near South Planning Board, said.

The Bears departing Soldier Field to build a stadium in Indiana will result in potential economic losses for Chicago, less tourism, visitor spending and future development, as well as fewer jobs, she said.

The news came “just as we’re getting excited about the Bears,” Sanchez-Carlson said.

“We respect their decision and recognize the complexity. Chicago will have to continue to pursue bold initiatives to attract investment,” she said. “The Near South Planning Board is always optimistic. We will continue to fight for investment to strengthen our neighborhood and grow our economy.”

Reggies Chicago at 2105 S. State St. sees a surge in business when the Bears play at Soldier Field. The bar, grill and music club has operated shuttle buses that drop off customers close to the stadium on game days since it opened in 2007, owner Robert Glick said.

Its buses typically transport more than 1,000 fans who spend a few hours at Reggies before and after home games. Glick still plans to run buses to the Bears’ new location in Indiana, but it won’t be the same as driving about a mile to Soldier Field, he said.

Glick, who attended the Bears’ Super Bowl game in 1986, hopes another sports team will come to Soldier Field. If Los Angeles can support two football teams, so can Chicago, he said. “The city of Chicago needs and deserves a team and should have a team.”

The Bears’ board of directors voted Thursday to move forward with their plans to build a stadium in Indiana, before announcing it Friday. Indiana lawmakers had approved a sweetheart deal for the team promising tax breaks and taxpayer-backed financing, with the Bears committing $2 billion toward the stadium's construction.

Miller’s Pub in the Loop, 134 S. Wabash Ave., gets a lot of business on Bears game days, since it’s close to Soldier Field and Downtown hotels. The team’s planned departure is disappointing but “has seemed inevitable for a while,” Andrew Gallios, owner of Miller’s Pub, said.

But Hammond is closer to the Loop than Arlington Heights, the other proposed location for the Bears.

“A lot of visiting fans would still stay Downtown before and after the games,” he said.

Gallios, a “lifelong” Bears fan and season ticket holder for nearly 50 years, will still support the team.

“But it does hurt to think of our Bears playing in any other location — whether Indiana or Arlington Heights — besides the city of Chicago on our beautiful lakefront with the Chicago skyline in the background,” he said.

Gallios acknowledged that Soldier Field doesn’t have the ideal, modern infrastructure for the Bears.

“It would take a lot of work and there would be so much red tape to make something like that where it is now. And it doesn’t seem like the city or state are willing to assist financially or legislatively to make that happen,” he said. “Indiana is giving the Bears money, a blank slate and holding their hand through the process. Any businessman in Chicago will tell you those things don’t happen in this city.”

On game days, Weather Mark Tavern at 1503 S. Michigan Ave. typically gets three or four times as many customers compared to non-game days.

“Home games are some of the biggest days of the year. They are all hands on deck,” owner Mark Stern said.

Reservations at the restaurant, one of the closest to the stadium, are booked weeks in advance. Although he would be “very upset” if the Bears leave Chicago, Soldier Field could fill vacant home game days with “additional concerts, sports teams and other events. That could help soften the blow,” Stern said.

Jonathan Capitanini, president of Italian Village in the Loop, said his restaurant at 71 W. Monroe St. gets a bump in business before and after Bears games.

If the team departs to Indiana, “we will certainly feel an impact to our business on game days, and this is not good news for Italian Village and Chicago at-large,” Capitanini said of his family-owned restaurant, opened in 1927.

“From one 100-year-old Chicago institution to another: Chicago and the Bears go together like spaghetti and meatballs. You are not only running a business but stewarding a part of Chicago’s identity and culture,” he said.

As a businessman, Gallios doesn’t begrudge the Bears for trying to get the best deal possible. But he wishes the team could have found a way to stay at Soldier Field.

“The Bears belong in Chicago,” he said. “Some people are Cubs fans, some are Sox. Some like basketball and some like hockey. But every true Chicagoan is a Bears fan.”