When will they break ground in Bridgeview??

[Don Boppero 3000]

I drive past there everyday kind of want to see them start on the new stadium??

[Don Boppero 3000]

Pushy a$$ bastard that I am!!

:)

[G Enriquez]

Could you take pictures of the construction and post them here when they start to build it? :o

[Etienne_72772]

At the Fire luncheon, a Fire rep told me that groundbreaking would likely be this fall.

[Fanaddict]

Yes, they hope to break ground this fall and at the luncheon they said they are still working on the final plans. They still plan to have stadium ready in the spring of 2006.

[arefmusa]

Could you take pictures of the construction and post them here when they start to build it? :o

As soon as they break ground, i will be posting pictures as many times you guys want, since i live one block away.

Go Fire

[ne plus ultra]

This seems like the appropriate place to put a link to John Kass's column from yesterday.

Our rush to get government assistance to build a stadium looks uglier the more I find out about it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0404070227apr07,1,6880060.column?coll=chi-news-col

[Fuegofan]

Your second statement implies that you think there is some connection between the events in acquiring the dome and the Fire's wanting to partner with the city for land and money. Let's all remember that a) the Fire were not connected to the dealings for the dome and b) the dome has little (if anything) to do with the land at 79th and Harlem. Were the Fire looking for government assistence in building a stadium? Yes. Just like every sports franchise out there today. Just read how MLB wants the stadium for the Expos relocation to be ENTIRELY financed with public funds. While I agree that what may have happened was ugly, it smells to me of some profiteers trying to make a buck on the side, albeit in an unpleasant, possibly illegal manner. But I don't think that there is any evidence anywhere that suggests that there is a connection to the Fire or that they were aware or endorse it.

And couldn't you just have revived the old thread that was about this?

[Fanaddict]

The sports dome is not critical to the Fire building a stadium a few miles south of it. While the dome land could be used for some remote parking and the fire could use it for indoor practices they can find other remote parking or do without it and the fire for the few days it practices indoors could just find another indoor practice facility.

http://www.chicago-fire.com/pressbox/pressrelease/releasetext.asp?prID=1446

[ne plus ultra]

The Fire developed the deal through Mayor Landek. Landek is the guy whose company was given Forest Preserve contracts by Reynolds when he was employed by the Forest Preserve District. The allegation is that Reynolds was being paid off for his 'friendliness.'

That's not just 'some profiteers making a buck on the side.' That's an allegation of corruption against the principal mover in the whole thing -- the very guy who germinated the idea with Peter Nowak. It's interesting that you bring up a Canadian franchise's demise. There are many reasons for the Expos falling apart, of course, and stadium financing isn't key to it. But the biggest reason that hockey franchises have moved from Canada to the US is that they understand that it's much easier to strongarm American cities for money, because we have shadier traditions, less accountable governments and it's easier to pretend that it's for "economic development."

I'm pointing this out because it's becoming more and more clear that the motivation in Bridgeview was not "redevelopment along Harlem Ave.", but merely the enrichment of the politicos putting Bridgeview's money on the line. The Fire are not corrupt just because there was a corrupt deal done as part of their stadium deal, but they bear some responsibility for who they've chosen to deal with. I don't like it at all.

[ne plus ultra]

I tried to edit the last paragraph of my post above, but apparently there's a 15 minute deadline for editing.

I just want to make clear that I'm talking about the motivation of the village officials in Bridgeview, and not the team's motivation.

[DrBobC]

I am not naive to think that underhanded things have not gone on in other cities brokering stadium deals, but Bridgeview had been very sloppy about it. This can refelct on the Fire. Will a white suburban soccer mom want to pack the kids in their minivan and travel to beautiful Bridgeview? My guess it might stear them way. At least in Chicago the corruption is kept behind the scenes and Daley is able to put a positive spin on the events. I feel the Fire should have looked into who they were dealing with.

[Greddy]

Exactly. I remember telling people about the stadium being built in Bridgeview, and I got the same reaction every time. "Man, they're gonna regret that". The funny thing is, none of these people were talking about the attendance or image of the team. They were refering to the fact that Bridgeview is a small town with very crooked people in charge. Whenever I would tell people about the great deal that the Fire got, and that the city was offering almost nothing, they would say "believe me, they'll make them pay for it later". Serioulsy, I've heard that last one several times word for word. That and that they would like to see how the Mexican fans enjoy dealing with the Bridgeview police. My cousin told me that I better shave my goatee before I start going to games.:)

I should mention that I'm from Bridgeport, and that the people I spoke to are the types that would know about crooked dealings from their own experiences.

It just so happens that this is the situation that we're in. So far, I've decided to turn these lemons into lemonade. We're getting our own house.