Peter wilt plans changes http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/main_story.asp?intID=3753428 I think they realize changes must be made for the fire to compete for a championship. Aurora possibly interested in having "Firehouse". Only Marsch and stoitchkov not signed for next year.
Re: Peter wilt plans changes NO!! Please let's get this team back in Chicago and keep them there. They are not the Northern Illinois Fire, they're the CHICAGO Fire. Someone tell that real estate person they hired to go look at the vacant land at 35th just east of Ashland. It's right by the river, and only a few feet from both I-90/94 and I-55. It's also very close to traditional Polish and Hispanic areas, without being a residential area itself.
I've been saying for a couple of years that I'd love to see them just north of Chinatown...there was a lot of land available around 18th and the river, but with development, I'm not sure how much of it is available now. Sigh... The 35th and Ashland is a bit interesting, but Mapquest is telling me there's no Ashland entrance/exit off I-55 (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), and traffic would be brutal via 90-94 on 35th on Saturday nights that the Sox are also in town.
Second item first: There are off exits I-55 both ways at Damen/Ashland. That land along east bank of the river has already been peddled to a Yuppie warehousing developer (ask Joe Pakovitz about it). This segues into the first item. The land north of Chinatown is already being developed for Yuppie warehousing. If you've ever taken a ride on the Orange Line you will see this.
Re: Re: Peter wilt plans changes i might buy that notion if that's how it is for all sports teams everywhere but last i looked it.. it's not the burbs are chicago, that's how it is and always will be how someone in chicago feels isn't really the issue... proximity and the fact that it would be is... thus naperville or aurora would still be the chicago fire if you feel you can only support a team that is within the city limits... by all means find a pro team in the city limits, build them a stadium within the city limits because you know, the only thing that matters is that they are in the city, not who they are so please by all means, start your Chicago FC right now... no reason that they have an appropriate stadium, no reason for them to have sell outs, no reason for them to seek profitability.. it's on your dime, and you will sacrifice everything just to have 11 players playing the game in the city
Don't get me wrong, the Chicago Fire don't have to play in downtown Chicago, but Aurora is a bit too far out. You start to get that far away from the city and you lose almost all of the fans that live downtown. Naperville isn't bad, and idealy we would like to see the Men in Red return downtown, but Aurora is just too far. Now I live right between Chicago and Aurora, but I can say right now that I would make fewer trips to Aurora than if the boys played downtown, it's just tougher to get out there. Naperville is great because it is all of a 10-15 minuted drive from my front door. The question is, what price are we willing to pay to have our own stadium. My first choice would obviously to stay in the city (own stadium, but SF is tolerable right now), second would be to stay in Naperville (our own stadium). After that...there are places in the 'burbs around the city that would be better for the team than Aurora. It's just not the right fit.
I now live in Naperville. And where I live is right on the border of Naperville and Aurora (new development area--cheap) I just moved in last May. It takes me about 15 minutes to go downtown Naperville (if you can call it downtown) where Cardinal Stadium is. All I can tell you right now is that that far away to Aurora than it is to Naperville. If you travel from Chicago instead of taking Naperville RD exit, you would take RT 59 or next exit (Farnsworth) which on a highway will take you about 5-10 minutes if not less. Also one thing I noticed is that heavy traffic usually ends right at Naperville road (daily commute from Rolling Meadows on 355 and 88 after 6 pm) I don't think that Naperville and Aurora will make that much of a difference. What will make a difference is a stadium. I don't want to go to Aurora to be cramped up in the high school stadium with no beer for 6-7 months. If that's the case I'd rather go back to SF (if you ask me I want Fire to go back to SF NOW! I don't care if it's humongous. Most of those "new" fans from Naperville {about 70%} will not follow the team to Chicago anyway.)
any site that is permanent will have beer... don't fret about that EVEN if it would become NCC 4 years down the road... i stand by my statement that having beer in the stadium isn't a big deal because i can drink before hand (tailgate or bar... depending on location)... but i also realize that not everyone can get to games well in advance i would love for the stadium to be downtown or closer to downtown... but my mind says anywhere that is feasible needs to be and should be done
My major question at least is how SF is for soccer. Is the field of the renovated SF smaller then before? Honestly, if the renting fee is not that bad, and you guys have a percentage of other revenue (concessions, etc.), SF is honestly that bad of a place to stay at. That's my view at least. Sure it's depressing to see all those empty seats, but for the short term it really is fine. I don't think Wilt should rush into finding a stadium for you guys. He should really maybe wait it out a little bit, because if Aurora is so far away as you guys say...then maybe building it out there isn't the best.
The front office has already publicly stated that they aren't interested in building a new stadium as far out as Naperville. All locations under consideration are closer than that. Nonetheless, I'd have a huge happy hat on if the Fire built a stadium in Aurora. Next up, AHL Hockey Updated article link: http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=3753428
Willy...thanks for the clarification. I'm never on 55, so I had no idea. As for the land north of Chinatown, I remember a few years ago they made that into a TIF zone, which would've meant massive tax breaks. There was even unsubstantiated talk, again, this is a few years ago, that the Sox would build a new New Comiskey there since the one they built in 90 is such a white elephant. I know there were a lot of closed warehouses and vacant land down there from shortcut trips down Canal to Comiskey, but it's become so developed. Too bad.
Great! Now I have to drive my SUV to Starbucks for a vente, hazelnut, skim, no whip mocha to get geared up for this!! Seriously, I had been thinking about the threads last year predicting the demise of the Fire fan base and especially Section 8. I am very thankful that fans are going out to Naperville and that all the doom and gloom predictions have failed to come true. There really isn't that big of a difference in going to Aurora over Naperville - especially if we had a Firehouse to go to.
Damn, I should have gotten my Real Estate license like I was supposed to for my old job and stayed in Chicago. Damn damn damn!
This is excellent. PW remembered the wasteland that was these boards last winter, if not for the where will the Fire play threads. So he's started a great rumor to keep us all entertained. The hot-stove league inaugural games will definitely be played in Aurora. I still think all 'permanent suburban sites' are simply bluffs to get better terms out of SF. But I have no inside info, (just in case any mayoral operatives are reading this and telling the CPD to drive a hard bargain.)
Don't get me started, but I and the other Aurora types on these boards would like to take this opportunity to disagree with you, vociforously. I won't go into specifics here because this is a long offseason
King Reindsdorf is Not Amused It is a great idea to build our own stadium in the City of Chicago but do you really think the Zoning Commission will approve this under any circumstances? Remember, we ended up in Naperville in part because Daley kept the Fire from getting zoning approval for the Firehouse in Arlington Heights. He wants the Fire at Soldier Field where we can pay through the nose for everything and if we don't like it, we can move to Tampa. Daley likes baseball and hates soccer, which also does not help. The real culprit is Reinsdorf, who will not permit a Firehouse near 35th Street to show up his empty monstrosity. You know, the one we all pay for with our sales taxes but could not use for our team. But the Rolling Stones, who are not taxpayers, were allowed to use it. IKEA, a Scandinvian company, can get such zoning permits. Not folks like us. Just my opinions.
Sure there is: 2 more stops on train from Chicago. But the bonus is that we have a METAL bar to party in after the matches! Riley's Rock House. Kirsten --getting homesick
I really don't think the Fire wants to permanently move to a location so far from the population center of the metro area. I suppose if aurora offered free land and help paying for the stadium they would have to listen but I know Peter doesn't really want to locate that far from the city.
Re: King Reindsdorf is Not Amused BUT...Daley would be OK with a Firehouse in the city if there was something in it for him and his constituents. And if he's getting the tax revenue, putting more people to work (construction, day of game vendors), hell, even alternative uses (Public League football, concerts, etc.), I think Daley would be fine with it. He just doesn't want it in someone else's town...hence the Arlington Heights scenario, though Liam swears there's a different spin on what really happened and we're not privy to it. You're right about Reinsdorf, however. He wouldn't care for it. Neither would SFX who runs the World. Know what I say? Tough. This is America. We're building (perhaps) a better mousetrap.