Make Arlington Great Again
- Thread starter lookoutforliam
- Start date
I let out a loud belly laugh when I read the first 12 words/numbers and "&' sign of your second sentence. Yeah, IF. Very few people running this county have any future vision of anything. Towns like Joliet and Lockport have been run for too long by people with NO vision of the future. Hell, we can't even get a second bridge put in Lockport.
What's funny (not funny) about it is, when the old swing bridge on Division St. was closed 40 years ago people were pissed. The people running the town at the time, said the upkeep and repairs from barges hitting it and putting it out of commission were too costly. So it was removed. BUT those same people said a new one was going to be built. Of course as time went on the project became more and more expensive. And they kept saying they were trying to get money from the state. All bullsh*t. But hey give them time to figure it out. It's only been 40 years.
As for Joliet, they are no better. Not counting the I-80 bridge, you have six bridges right? From Ruby St to Brandon Road. I can't honestly think of the last time all six were in working order for any serious period of time. The Jefferson St. bridge has been out for months and will remain out of order for months. I lived in Joliet for 3 years (more like a sentence) never again. NEVER again. As bad as some things in Lockport are, (terrible downtown traffic in need of a f-ing bridge) I wouldn't take a house in Joliet for free. Well, maybe I would so I could sell it.
In the meantime, towns like Plainfield, New Lenox, Frankfort and Mokena are decades ahead of us. It is JMO but I think the people who own any Chicago team would have rocks in their head to re-locate to Joliet or even entertain the idea. They can't even get their bridge situation right. Sorry for the rant.
At least I'm good for an occasional belly laugh... 🤣 😂
Realistically, 10 years out is really needed for due diligence for a billion dollar project which requires significant government approval. The new interchange in Bourbonnais on I-57 was partially driven by the Amtrak crash in 1998, and it still took 20 years for the planning, approvals, funding & construction...Or Peotone, which was so anti-airport it nearly has killed its school district finances by refusing any development someone might consider pro-airport, thereby watching industrial go to Monee & Manteno.
Here's a thought for all...McCaskeys, Wirtzes, & Reinsdorf get together to build the ultimate stadium complex...three stadiums in one building. Forget the 70's cookie cutter round multi-use stadiums. This is a T formation, with the Halas Field one side of the T, Reinsdorf Field the other side of the T, and Reinsdorf-Wirtz Arena the base of the T. Halas Field & Reinsdorf Field share the sliding roof, with one end zone bleachers backing up to the left field bleachers. Underneath they share the support space - the bathrooms, concession stands, fancy restaurants, medical facilities, etc...and one side of the Arena backs up to the support space as well. What would the rental rate be on a restaurant which is available for all three stadiums??? The neighboring hotel site price?
The IHSA could move in...football finals in Halas, baseball finals in Reinsdorf, basketball in Reinsdorf-Wirtz, etc...okay, I really don't like this idea of putting all the finals in one complex...
Both tracks will be gone and become new Amazon facilitIes or something very similar within 3 years. land has become to valuable and FYI major 80 construction begins this Monday basically prep work for the major rebuild project 1.2 billion I believe
1.2 billion and the state is bankrupt. Who is paying for all that work? I believe you know the answer.
Do people really care about that stuff? I personally could care less.
Chicago can host any event except the the SuperBowl or Final 4. Do we need to build a football field with a roof so we can host one of these events every 10 years?
I say we as if I'm included in this decision
Do people really care about that stuff? I personally could care less.
Chicago can host any event except the the SuperBowl or Final 4. Do we need to build a football field with a roof so we can host one of these events every 10 years?
I say we as if I'm included in this decision
Super Bowl has an impact of $550 million and Final Four is about $150 million, those are big numbers. You also have to figure the B10 football championship makes more sense yearly in Chicago due to the ease of travel. Add in the potential of a college football NC game with the expanded playoffs and I think spending an extra $100 million to put a roof on the stadium is the smart move.
Seems there are different numbers depending on the link and source I’m looking at, but regardless the first 10 years of a new stadium and you are likely looking at being a permanent or 2/3 shared host for the Big 10 basketball tourney (not as lucrative but don’t forget the Women too), permanent host for a CFB playoff game, and permanent host for NCAA tourney games. Bears would likely also pick up neutral site CFB regular season games every other year or every 2 years. Not to mention the daily revenue on non game days for the built up bars, restaurants, breweries, top golf, etc.
Regarding who cares about the above, I would absolutely love to shell out a couple hundred bucks of my hard earned dollars every few yrs to check out an NCAA tourney game. I’m also 30 min from arlington so yes I am biased.
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