By Christopher Placek – Daily Herald
March 13, 2025
In his final state of the village address, Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said Thursday it would be a “dream” for the Bears to build their next stadium in his town, and he thinks that dream will come true.
“I believe in my heart of hearts that we’re where we’re meant to be in this project, and that it’s going to happen,” Hayes told an audience of community leaders and business owners at the Metropolis Ballroom. “I’m very encouraged about where things are at. I actually feel better now than at any point in the past four years that this is actually going to happen.”
One sign of his optimism is the 12-page memorandum of understanding the village board, the Bears, Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 reached in December.
The deal, which resolves short- and long-term property tax issues for the 326-acre Arlington Park site, was brokered largely by Village Manager Randy Recklaus and Village Attorney Hart Passman over the course of nearly two years of negotiations. Hayes thanked the village staffers for putting in extra hours “to do all we can to put our best foot forward to make this dream a reality.”
The mayor also pointed to District 214 officials who attended the Thursday morning breakfast program as “important stakeholders in this endeavor.”
“We do believe we’re on the right path now,” Hayes said.
Amid the tax dispute, the Bears shifted focus to developing a new $3.2 billion publicly owned domed stadium on the Chicago lakefront. But since those plans were revealed nearly a year ago, state lawmakers have given them — and the requested subsidies that would help pay for it all — a chilly reception.
At the same time, Bears brass haven’t publicly closed the door on Arlington Park — the spacious former racetrack site purchased by the NFL franchise for $197.2 million two years ago.
The Arlington Heights memorandum requires the Bears to restart evaluative studies for potential redevelopment of the property. The football club’s consultants are finishing a traffic study, which officials at village hall are expecting to receive “soon,” Hayes said. That would be followed shortly by the team’s financial study, he added.
Earlier this month, Hayes and village trustees inked a contract with a traffic consultant of their own who will examine the team’s report. An agreement with a financial consultant is expected soon.
While he’s been a cheerleader for a prospective Bears relocation from Chicago, Hayes reiterated a final deal has to be a net fiscal positive for Arlington Heights, and officials won’t “say yes until we’re assured that that is going to be the case.”
“We’re going to do our due diligence to make sure that if we say yes, it’s going to be good for this community in so many different ways,” he said.
“From a revenue perspective, from an image perspective, from a property value perspective, you name it,” Hayes added. “I think the Bears in Arlington Heights is going to be something that we can look forward to and be very, very proud of.”
Hayes is stepping down May 5 after 12 years as mayor. He spent 22 years before that as a village trustee. When he announced his decision not to seek another term last June, he predicted the Bears would make a decision whether or not to build a stadium in town before the end of his term.
Hayes on Thursday said that’s still his hope.
Among those in the crowd for Thursday’s address were the three candidates for mayor: trustees Jim Tinaglia and Tom Schwingbeck, and Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jon Ridler.
“I just want to thank you for the opportunity to serve you,” said Hayes, fighting back tears at the end of his speech. “It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve this community for the past 34 years, and I have the utmost confidence that whoever is elected on April 1 is going to continue to enhance the reputation that we’ve enjoyed over the past years.”