Bears unveil $5B proposal for new domed lakefront stadium - ESPN

CHICAGO — The Bears unveiled a nearly $5 billion proposal Wednesday for an enclosed stadium next door to their current home at Soldier Field as part of a major project that would transform the city's lakefront, and they are asking for public funding to help make it happen.

The plan calls for $3.2 billion for the new stadium plus an additional $1.5 billion in infrastructure. The team and the city said the project would add green and open space while improving access to the city's Museum Campus and also could include a publicly owned hotel.

«This is not an easy project, but Chicago doesn't like it easy,» Bears president Kevin Warren said.

The process, the vision and the steps that need to be taken to build a <a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/StadiumForChicago?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#StadiumForChicago

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The announcement at Soldier Field comes during a busy week for the Bears. They are expected to take 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the draft Thursday night and bank on the USC quarterback to solidify a position that has long been a sore spot for the founding NFL franchise.

The team said last month it was prepared to provide more than $2 billion in funding toward a publicly owned stadium in the city.

The proposal calls for $2.025 billion from the Bears, $300 million from an NFL loan and $900 million in bonds from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. The funding from the ISFA would involve extending bonds of the existing 2% hotel tax.

The Bears said the project would generate $8 billion in economic impact for the region. It would be built in three phases, and construction would take up to five years. The new stadium would be constructed on a parking lot just south of Soldier Field,