CHICAGO (WLS) — New renderings from Chicago architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill envision a future Chicago Bears stadium at Rate Field, but the concept is already prompting discussion among community advocates, neighbors and elected officials.<\/p>\n
The proposal imagines a new Bears stadium at the center of a mixed-use district featuring housing, parks, entertainment and other development with access to public transit. The concept was developed with the goal of keeping the Bears in Chicago.<\/p>\n
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24\/7. Click here to watch<\/a><\/p>\n Before anything like this could happen, the White Sox would first have to leave their longtime home at Rate Field. A new baseball stadium has been proposed in the South Loop.<\/a><\/p>\n While the renderings offer a glimpse of what could be built on the site, some community advocates say the conversation should include the people who live nearby.<\/p>\n “We have a very powerful local coalition of neighbors and residents that want to have a say in development in the community, and this kind of dropping of a rendering at the same time as the Amtrak is trying to push its way forward is very disappointing,” said Sarah Tang of the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community.<\/p>\n For many neighbors, the bigger focus remains a separate proposal that would bring an Amtrak maintenance facility<\/a> to the area.<\/p>\n “My main focus compared to what a lot of people are, is keeping Amtrak out of here. That’s my main focus. The Bears, the Sox–we’ll worry about them after we get rid of Amtrak,” said Bridgeport resident Philip Basso.<\/p>\n