Bursts of applause greeted the Chicago Bears’ presentation of plans for a new enclosed stadium in Arlington Heights. “I’ve never had so many claps in my life,” team President Ted Philips said.
The team’s proposal to build the stadium and an adjoining mixed-use complex won support from many of those who attended the team’s initial sales pitch Thursday. That’s encouraging for team officials who emphasized that the project can’t happen without taxpayer funding. Numerous suburbanites told the Tribune that they supported the project — but didn’t want to pay more taxes for it.
Opponents already are mounting a drive to prevent any public spending on the deal. And one group of outside observers is backing up those opponents’ argument. Economists who’ve studied the issue say public funding for such sports stadiums and related development are usually a bad deal for taxpayers.
