Finding temporary shelter in the interim won’t be easy. As of Oct. 23, there were 377 people on the waiting list for emergency shelter in San Francisco.

With the clock now ticking, advocates for unhoused people say the city must find a solution quickly so no residents are ticketed, towed, or forced to abandon their vehicles and live on the street.

“The families on Winston Drive and Buckingham Way deserve dignity and safety, including a safe parking site and access to permanent housing,” Eleana Binder, policy manager for the homeless services nonprofit Glide, said in a written statement. “Implementing the parking restrictions without options will push them deeper into instability and homelessness.”

People like Suarez say it will be impossible to move their vehicle every four hours while at work, so they’ll have to find a new place to park to avoid the $92 parking tickets. For him, a single parking ticket is nearly half of this daily $220 paycheck.

SFMTA also noted it has payment plans for tickets, community service alternatives and discounts for people experiencing homelessness.

Jessica Coello puts a wedge under the front tire of her RV after moving it for street sweeping on Winston Drive in San Francisco on Oct. 17, 2023. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Others said they have no other option but to try to stay and move their vehicle when they can.

Jessica Coello has lived on Winston Drive for about a year with her two kids, ages 15 and 17, who go to high school in the city. Like many of her neighbors, she started living on Winston during the pandemic after she lost work. It was cheaper than paying rent and has allowed her to save up some money for her kids’ college education.

“We aren’t going to have a safe place to go, and we’ll get a lot of tickets,” she told KQED about her fears looking ahead. “If we get a lot of tickets, they’ll tow the RVs, and we won’t have anywhere to live.”

Coello, who works in childcare and housekeeping, has struggled to find regular work after the pandemic. But she wants to stay close to her children’s school so they can graduate on time. She feels lost without options.

“They don’t accept RVs anywhere. Either they are too close to the houses, and people there don’t want RVs near, or we are on the streets, and they can’t stay there,” she told KQED. “If you put restrictions, we’ll be homeless. It will be an even worse situation for us.”

Residents chant during a rally calling on San Francisco to provide safe parking sites and housing for families living in RVs near San Francisco State University at risk of eviction on Winston Drive on Oct. 24, 2023. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Joshua Hernandez, 21, moved to an RV on Winston Drive with his girlfriend just three months ago, after it got too expensive to continue renting their apartment in Daly City. He’s working as a plumber and his girlfriend is taking classes at Skyline Community College.

“Even if we worked long days everyday, it wasn’t enough to pay our bills and still go to college. So we moved here. And it feels way better now, we can save for our future,” he told KQED outside a rally on Tuesday morning where families living in RVs were demanding the city find a safe parking site before the new rules kick in.

For many of the families parked next to him, Suarez said, the new parking limits will “pretty much force everyone out.”

But Suarez hopes he’s wrong.

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“My family members in Gaza just relocated to a makeshift tent because their home in northern Gaza was reduced to rubble,” Zaynah Hindi, co-founder of Reem’s, a popular San Francisco restaurant, told the committee. “My co-founder has lost at least 40 members of her family in Gaza.”

At the nearly five-hour public hearing, community members and supervisors sparred over whether to add the language proposed by Dorsey, which would have also included identifying Hamas as a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

“If we were to, in effect, reward terrorism by platforming grievances that underlie it, even if those grievances are just and right, we have to be explicit in our condemnation of acts of terror,” Dorsey said at the hearing. Omitting that language, he added, “would risk sending a dangerous and unthinkable message that terrorism works.”

Dorsey was supported by a handful of speakers, including some from local Jewish groups, who advocated for the failed amendment.

“I’m calling for some humility, to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization,” one San Francisco resident said during public comment.

The majority of speakers on Monday, however, supported the resolution without any amendment.

More than 60% of U.S. voters said they support a cease-fire in Gaza, according to recent polling by Data for Progress.

“I am the son of U.S concentration camp survivors. I’m here to add my voice to that of thousands who, for the last three months, have demonstrated to demand a halt to the genocide,” said San Francisco resident Don Misumi. “We cannot afford to stand by and allow this to happen. The call for a cease-fire is the absolute minimum we can do. It is our moral obligation.”

San Francisco’s push for a cease-fire resolution comes after the approval of similar resolutions in a small but growing number of U.S. cities, including Richmond and Oakland. The debate over the issue in both East Bay cities attracted national attention and accusations of antisemitism after some public speakers defended Hamas’ actions, and lawmakers ultimately rejected amendments condemning the group.

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FROM DREAM TO REALITY: An artist’s impression of the new Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco’s Sunset district

News
December 14, 2023
by Máirtín Ó Muilleoir

Plans for a state-of-the-art new home for the San Francisco Irish have moved a step closer with the decision of city leaders to back the ambitious new build plan.

This Saturday (December 16) city mayor London Breed will joins leaders of The United Irish Cultural Center for a signing ceremony signalling official support for the $74m flagship building.

On Tuesday (December 12), the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of the Project 2025 building plans for a complete redevelopment of the existing Irish Center on 45th Avenue in the city’s Sunset District.

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The ultra-modern new centre will match in architectural swagger and audacious scale the Irish Arts Center in New York.

Liam Reidy President of San Francisco United Irish Cultural Center addresses Big #IrishCampfire on $60m rebuild plan @IrishCenterSF @jimfrawleyNY @johnleemedia pic.twitter.com/YHG1jaazn9

— Irish Echo Newspaper (@IrishEcho) August 19, 2022

As the first Irish social center in the United States built entirely by volunteer labor and community contributions, the UICC has continued the work of its predecessors (such as the Knights of the Red Branch) in promoting and preserving Irish culture in the City by the Bay. Since the UICC opened its doors in the early 70s, it has been a welcoming space for Irish visitors and immigrants as well as community groups and a variety of organizations.

Celtic Women 2023

 “It has been nearly two years since we submitted our initial documents, and we are proud to announce that we are now on track to bring this dream to life with an actual building, not just a concept,” says Liam Reidy, UICC Board President and member of the Building Committee.

“Over the past year, we encountered several challenges, but thanks to the unwavering support of our community, we are moving forward and paving the way for construction.”

Six stories above ground with two subterranean levels for parking and an aquatics center, the reimagined Irish Center boasts a spacious lobby that welcomes visitors to experience a host of activities. The heartbeat of the Center will be its extensive library, museum, and digital gallery with educational resources, interactive exhibits, and scholarly research available to everyone. The Center will feature multi-use event space, pubs and fine food offerings, a gym, theater, and office and meeting spaces.

Dancers from 7 local Irish Dance Schools will be Rockin’ the Gates Saturday–check the schedule and see it all!

KIDS Under 18 are free.
TICKETS: https://t.co/g6MHsuZGw5 pic.twitter.com/eavZEGj68Y

— UICC San Francisco (@IrishCenterSF) August 23, 2023

“We want to exemplify the best of both the future and the past,” says Reidy, “sharing our history and traditions and continuing to build relationships with all of the cultures in San Francisco with whom the Irish have been partnering since the 1800s.”

The UICC team paid special tribute to Consul General of Ireland in the Golden Gate City Micheal Smith for championing the new build plan. 

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Our beautiful city sits exactly opposite the Golden Gate Bridge, founded here for its unique position along the San Francisco Bay. Our gateway to the bay, the Berkeley Marina, has struggled for years with crumbling infrastructure and a deficient Marina Fund. But thanks to community advocacy, new investment from our City Council, and $15 million in state support, we have weathered the storm and are steadying the ship. And soon, the Berkeley Marina will enjoy a homecoming of a resource lost long ago: ferry service.

In 1926, our beloved Berkeley Pier was built for ferry service by the Golden Gate Ferry Company. A decade later, after the opening of the Bay Bridge, ferry service ended. The pier became the municipal fishing pier we knew and loved for years until it was closed in 2015 due to structural issues.  Replacement costs for the pier are estimated to range between $20 million and $55 million. Costs that, realistically, the city cannot bear alone.

The city of Berkeley has partnered with the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), the agency that operates the San Francisco Bay Ferry, to develop a plan to share costs and deliver a pier that serves dual purposes: public recreation and ferry service. At the culmination of a public engagement process that included focus groups, commission meetings, and community workshops, a preferred design concept was presented to the City Council in 2021.

Today, we write to announce that the vision of restoring ferry service at the Berkeley Marina has reached three major funding milestones this year:

These significant grants represent tremendous progress toward restoring the pier and bringing regional ferry transit back to Berkeley. The design and environmental review phase has already begun, putting us on track for groundbreaking in 2027.

Throughout the public engagement process, the project plan has evolved significantly to incorporate community feedback. The preferred design concept, known as “The Sword,” is designed to maximize recreation space on the pier. And the city is committed to implementing a proactive and robust transportation management strategy to respond to traffic and parking availability concerns. This could potentially include incorporating a paid parking program that charges ferry riders to park, discouraging spillover into non-ferry parking areas, and incentivizing carpooling and other non-driving modes of accessing the terminal, such as enhanced transit or shuttles, as well as bicycle and drop-off facilities.

Ferry transit meets a critical need for disaster preparedness in the region. Alongside the imminent transition to all-electric zero-emission ferries, this new transportation service will represent a major win for the environment and help alleviate congestion on the Bay Bridge. And importantly, ferry transit will increase commerce at waterfront businesses, bringing new revenues to the Marina Fund.

We are beginning an exciting new chapter for our waterfront, defined by a wave of reinvestment. Recent projects such as the Marina Roadway and South Cove improvements have been huge successes. Dock replacements and piling replacements are underway. Main channel dredging and Cesar Chavez Park path improvements are right around the corner. Hotel and restaurant revenues are recovering, and we are in exclusive negotiations with a prospective tenant at 199 Seawall Drive to reactivate the southern end of the marina.

Together, these improvements represent winds of change. While we are excited about this new potential, we remain committed to protecting the functions and character that make the Berkeley Marina a regionally loved site for nature and recreation. For the marina to thrive, we must strategically plan to address our infrastructure needs and demonstrate fiscal responsibility in managing the Marina Fund.

Thank you to all who have participated in the public processes shaping the Berkeley Pier & Ferry project. We urge you to join us as opportunities arise to advocate for regional and state resources for this transformative project for the marina. The future of our waterfront depends on it. We need all hands on deck!

Rigel Robinson is a Berkeley council member representing the city of Berkeley on the Alameda County Transportation Commission. Terry Taplin and Rashi Kesarwani are Berkeley council members representing the Berkeley Marina. Jesse Arreguin is the mayor of Berkeley.

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The Red Sox have two games without a wildcard spot

by Tim Crowley

8 minutes ago

While the Red Sox remain in a hot streak in July, the wins continue to move the ball club toward the ability to add more players at the MLB trade deadline next week.

In his notebook article Monday, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal highlighted the progress the Red Sox have made in positioning themselves with potential buyers and sellers.

Here’s what Rosenthal wrote for the Red Sox in the coming week:

Coming out of the All-Star break, I wrote about six teams on the bubble. As I mentioned earlier, the buy/sell decision isn’t always an either/or decision, and multiple teams are likely to do both at the same time. Still, at this point, the Mets are probably selling more than they’re buying, the Red Sox and Padres are buying more than they’re selling.

With the Red Sox nearing their upcoming series against the Atlanta Braves, Boston is 53-47 and just two games away from an American League wildcard berth.

If the Red Sox can continue their winning streak in the upcoming series against Atlanta and San Francisco, Boston will further establish itself as a buyer at the close next week.

Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images

“Amazing Stuff” Helping Alex Cora Build Confidence in Red Sox Pitchers”

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Image courtesy of Flickr user Jim Maurer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Efforts to build new railroad tunnels across San Francisco Bay are gaining momentum after the planning agency responsible for overseeing the massive planned Link21 infrastructure project released September 21 conceptual maps detailing a key stretch of the rail network presented.

The maps provide a look at two separate plans that would either split the tunnel along regional/local supply lines or combine both in a corridor connecting Oakland and Alameda County with the Salesforce Transit Center and Mission Bay. They also included hints of a “possible expansion” of the BART system, which runs west away from downtown.

Image: Link21 courtesy of sanfranciscoexaminer.com

Details released last week point to a number of important future projects that have been making headlines in the region for a number of years. Aside from improving connections to the larger regional Caltrans system, the plans call for the addition of new BART service routes along the controversial I-980 corridor, as well as four additional stations in Alameda, East Oakland, downtown, and Jack London Square previously announced as the site for the new Oakland A ballpark.

Formerly at Archinect: The Bay Area’s new Transbay gets a tiny step closer to reality

The name Link21 refers to the scope of the 21-county “mega-region” that the combined rail network will enable. His final vision would, for the first time, connect the cities of Santa Cruz, Salinas and Monterey to the south with the Sacramento region and communities in the San Joaquin Valley.

According to a report by the San Francisco Examiner, the estimated initial cost of the project is $29 billion. Link21 says this sum is likely to be supplemented by “various value capture strategies.” Once final approval is granted, construction could take around a decade before the project receives its finishing touches in 2039.

Related articles about Archinect that might interest you…

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In Today’s Links: Jamal Adams Injury Rehab Video; Cameron Young profile(s); dishing on DeAndre Hopkins; ranking of teams’ fixtures; and more! 100 days left until week 1 of the 2023 season! How exciting are these words?

Seattle Seahawks News

What Defenses the Seahawks Will Face in the 2023 Game Plan, Part II – Seaside Joe
A look at the four types of insurance and weeks 6-9: Seaside Joe 1550

Jamal Adams looks stronger in video of him running up the stairs – Seahawks Wire
Adams has three more seasons under contract

Seattle Seahawks rookie Cameron Young’s strength needs to play – Seattle Sports
For Seattle Seahawks fourth-rounder Cameron Young, Brock Huard says his greatest strength is to keep it simple.

Tuesday Roundup: Kenneth Walker III Named 2nd Most Explosive Runner of 2022 by Next Gen Stats – Seahawks.com
Around the NFL’s Nick Shook explains why Kenneth Walker III was the NFL’s most explosive running back and second most explosive runner in 2022.

Seahawks rookie Cameron Young has the stature (and buy-in) to secure a key role in the D-Line – The Athletic
Young’s size makes him an excellent nose tackle in Seattle defense, but it’s his approach that has coaches feeling optimistic about his potential.

Seattle Seahawks Analysis: 5 Veterans Under Most Pressure to Perform in 2023 – Sports Illustrated Seattle Seahawks news, analysis and more
After the Seattle Seahawks embarked on another exciting draft class with the expectation that several rookies will make an immediate impact, there is plenty up for several veterans returning from injury and/or nearing the end of their current contracts the game as the Seattle Seahawks start the new season.

NFC West News

49ers 90-in-90: Kevin Givens is solid and stable, and that’s what the Niners need – Niners Nation
Breakdown of the 90 players in the 49ers offseason roster in 90 posts (spanning approximately 90 days). Today defensive tackle is Kevin Givens

Resurgent Trey Lance ready to help the 49ers – ESPN
Lance is finally healthy after his first two seasons were marred by injuries and is keen to prove his worth to the 49ers.

Why the 49ers haven’t had a franchise quarterback in 20 years – Sports Illustrated San Francisco 49ers news, analysis and more
We analyze why the San Francisco 49ers have failed to find a franchise quarterback over the past two decades.

NFL execs verdict on DeAndre Hopkins: ‘Not much’ at ex-Arizona Cardinals WR – Sports Illustrated Arizona Cardinals news, analysis and more
Scattered opinions of former Arizona Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins follow him in the league.

ROTB Pre-Mini Camp 53 Man Roster Prediction Final Results of Voting – Revenge of the Birds
There are a number of positions the Cardinals could strengthen through waivers the week of August 29th. The ones that immediately come to mind are: RB, TE, DT, DE, S.

The Rams may not yet have enough space to field a full roster – Turf Show Times
Despite the current roster overhaul, LA has the fewest signed players in the NFL

Can Los Angeles Rams’ ‘excellent’ QB Brett Rypien beat rookie Stetson Bennett as Matthew Stafford backup? – Sports Illustrated LA Rams news, analysis and more
There have long been questions about the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback situation behind Matthew Stafford – can Brett Rypien prove to be the solution rather than fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett?

Around the NFL

Tom Brady’s investment in Raiders shows how insane Miami’s plan was for 2022 – ProFootballTalk
As more rules are cited and arguments made regarding the issues Raiders minority owner Tom Brady becomes Raiders quarterback Tom Brady, one question becomes more apparent.

WR Tyler Boyd Says Bengals ‘Outperformed’ Chiefs in Orlando Brown Acquisition – Yahoo Sports
Boyd is glad the Chiefs’ former left tackle has switched to Cincinnati’s side of the “nice little rivalry.”

State of the Philadelphia Eagles 2023: Jalen Hurts and Co. Look Ready to Avoid a Super Bowl Hangover – NFL.com
Can Jalen Hurts and company avoid the dreaded Super Bowl hangover after narrowly missing out on winning the Lombardi Trophy last season? Adam Rank updates on the state of the 2023 Philadelphia Eagles.

Next Gen Stats’ 10 Most Explosive Runners of 2022: QBs Justin Fields, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen Can Fly – NFL.com
Nick Shook ranks the 10 most explosive runners based on the 2022 NFL season’s next-gen stats metrics. Three quarterbacks make the list — one of them takes first place!

A pressing question for every new NFL offensive player in 2023 – The Athletic
Fifteen coaches, including Eric Bieniemy, Kellen Moore and Matt Nagy, face unique challenges when it comes to taking their offense to new heights.

2023 NFL Season: 100 Things You Should Know 100 Days Before Kickoff Week One; News, Notes & Odds for All 32 Teams – CBSSports.com
Everything you need to know about the upcoming season

Ranking the Easiest and Hardest Game Schedules for All 32 NFL Teams: Saints, Falcons and Colts Have Favorable Game Schedules in 2023 | NFL News, Leaderboards and Stats | PFF
While every NFL team’s path to victory will be unique, the strength of its schedule plays a crucial role in shaping its future. Here we use PFF ELO to dive into the 2023 NFL season and determine which teams have the easiest and most difficult schedules.

Continue reading

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San Francisco sanctioned centers that allow people to freely use illegal drugs indoors under the care of trained staff may soon be a reality. On Thursday, a trio of lawmakers from the city’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee approved legislation that would pave the way for the opening of monitored injection sites across the city.

Legislation would revise licensing requirements to allow such centers to open. Managers Catherine Stefani, Matt Dorsey and Joel Engardio voted to bring the proposal to the full board for a vote next Tuesday.

While critics argue the sites condone illicit drug use, proponents say the centers save lives by taking drug users off the streets to restrooms where they can learn about rehabilitation services. Staff can also intervene in an emergency by administering naloxone, an antidote to drug overdose that has been shown to prevent drug-related deaths.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has long maintained that attended injection sites violate federal law, meaning anyone using them or even working in them could be prosecuted. The centers also violate state law. Though Governor Newsom is known for his progressive policies, last year he vetoed a plan that would have allowed injection sites to be opened on a trial basis in select cities, including San Francisco.

Despite the ongoing legal hurdles, the legislation’s main sponsors, Mayor Breed and Supervisor Hillary Ronen, have said they hope to limit liability to the city by emulating what New York City achieved in November 2021 – which opened the Big Apple the nation’s first supervised building injection site without relying on taxpayers’ money but using private funds.

Similar websites have been operating in other countries for decades to reduce the number of drug overdose deaths. To better understand how these centers work, the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit traveled to Canada in 2018 to see the sites firsthand and speak directly with the center staff and drug users who use the facilities. Today there are about a dozen monitored injection sites in Vancouver.

Ronen’s office hopes to open three supervised injection centers in San Francisco by the end of the year.

If a majority of regulators approve the plan next Tuesday, the legislation would require a second majority vote during the subsequent Feb. 28 board meeting, as is typical for proposed regulations.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – As it turns out, Anthony DeSclafani has been pitching without a groove for the peroneal tendon in his right ankle for most of his life, and his body has somehow compensated for this genetic abnormality by the end of the 2021 season.

That’s when DeSclafani first started experiencing ankle discomfort, but it went away after a winter of dormancy, only to come back this past April. More rest didn’t help, and eventually the San Francisco Giants right-hander underwent surgery in July in Green Bay, Wisc., with Packers orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Anderson performed the procedure. Anderson is the ankle specialist who lasted the winter for both the Giants and Mets on Carlos Correa’s previous ankle injury.

DeSclafani discovered that some close relatives also lack adequate tendon grooves, including a cousin who underwent the same surgery around the same time. Medical journals estimate that 18% of the population does not have convex retromalleolar grooves.

“Why is it showing up now and starting to act up? That’s the question,” DeSclafani said Wednesday. “I think that’s how the body works sometimes. I have never had any type of ankle problem in my life and then when I spoke to a family member they did the exact same procedure which is odd.

Anderson drilled a groove in the fibula and stabilized the tendon. “It’s locked in,” said DeSclafani, who spent four months recovering.

Now healed, DeSclafani is not only full throttle for spring, he’s on track with the other starters and is scheduled to play a game next week.

Giving live batting practice for the first time this spring on Wednesday, he was feeling great, with mostly good stuff – except maybe the pitch Michael Conforto sent out of the park – and said his change might be even better than it was in 2021.

This season was sensational, especially the first half before the ankle started acting up. He went 10-3 with a 2.68 ERA in the first half, 3-4 with a 4.03 ERA the rest of the way. Last season, he only pitched 19 innings and had an ERA over 6.00.

“It was painful,” he said. “I didn’t want to stay on the backfoot for long. It would hurt and I would want to pick it up or throw it up off the back of the hill and then I would have a lot of momentum to go forward and roll off. I was really throwing with a lot of shoulder and elbow, which could lead to other bad things.

“It was difficult to throw strikes, it was difficult to throw quality pitches. The shape of my slider and two-seamer weren’t there. There was a lot of frustration from pain and not being able to pitch effectively and I knew I was putting myself in danger and potentially hurting other things.”

The light side? DeSclafani’s arm is the best in years after being sidelined for half a year.

“It was an opportunity to give him plenty of free time,” DeSclafani said. “I’m feeling good and trying to possibly holster and even build on what I did in 2021.”

So far so good pitching on a newly stable hock. Catchers and coaches think DeSclafani’s things are looking as good as they do in 2021. “Having him healthy and back as part of our pitching team is a tremendous boost for us,” said pitching coach Andrew Bailey.

Starting mate Alex Cobb added: “I might want to lower expectations for Tony at the beginning because I’ve had season-ending injuries before and it’s very difficult to get back to that form straight away. But having him back will be extremely beneficial.”

The Giants were plagued by so many injuries in the rotation last season that they worked to gain depth this winter. After losing Carlos Rodón to free agency, they added starters Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea despite knowing DeSclafani was expected to be back at full strength. Swing man Jakob Junis can also start, and top prospect Kyle Harrison is expected at some point, giving the team a mix of starters who, if in good health, could be among the best in the league.

“I think we all have the experience and we all have the track record, and I can only control what I can control,” DeSclafani said. “I know if I put out the 21 version of me there’s no need to worry or anything and I think I’m getting close.”

In short, shortstop prospect Marco Luciano (back) uses Grounder and ramps up his shot progression. … Reliever Cole Waites (Lat tribe) will have another week off before resuming throwing.

Contact Susan Slusser: sslusser@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @susanslusser

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CHICAGO — The Bears have finalized their deal to purchase land in Arlington Heights, taking a big step forward to potentially moving the team to the suburbs.

The team announced in a Wednesday tweet that officials were shut down at the suburban property last week. However, the purchase does not guarantee that the team will leave. City officials have negotiated with team leaders to keep the bears in Chicago, and the bears still need support from suburban leaders and potential neighbors.

“Completing the purchase does not guarantee the land will be developed, but it is an important next step in our ongoing evaluation of the property,” team officials tweeted.

“There is still a tremendous amount of due diligence work to be done to determine if building a gated, state-of-the-art stadium and multi-purpose entertainment district is feasible.”

The deal is a “big development” of the potential move, but “there has been no decision” on whether the Bears will make the proposed Arlington Heights venue, according to a letter from the team.

But if the team goes ahead with their idea for the suburban campus, it would be “one of the largest megaprojects in Midwestern history,” according to the letter.

Our Arlington Park Property Closure Open Letter:

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) February 15, 2023

The Arlington Park campus would be built on 326 acres on the site of the former Churchill Downs racecourse, which closed for racing late last season.

It would be “much more than a stadium project,” the team wrote in September as they unveiled possible plans for the development.

RELATED: Bears reveal what Arlington Heights Stadium campus could look like

The campus would include a “multipurpose entertainment, commercial/retail and residential district,” according to the Bears website. It could include restaurants, office space, a hotel, fitness center, parks and open spaces.

However, the site has repeatedly pointed out that campus will only become a reality when certain things happen: when the team closes the property and when the team decides to develop it.

Now the team has completed this first step.

The Bears have said the development could create more than 48,000 jobs and generate $9.4 billion for the Chicago-area economy. But company officials have said they would want public funding for the project.

“The overarching plan will only work if the village of Arlington Heights, surrounding communities, Cook County, the greater Chicagoland area and the state of Illinois all receive significant economic benefits, and we are confident that a mega-project like this can deliver results,” he said the team’s letter.

The team held meetings with Arlington Heights residents to gather their feedback. A September gathering drew more than 100 neighbors who applauded when the Bears said their Arlington Heights stadium would have a roof — only for the crowd to groan when the team said the roof would not be retractable.

Chicago officials have hoped to keep the team during months of negotiations at Soldier Field.

The announcement is the latest twist in the stadium drama between the Bears and the city of Chicago – a saga that stretches back to the ’70s when the team first threatened to leave Soldier Field for Arlington Heights.

The City and Bears rebuilt Soldier Field in 2002, but it remains the smallest-capacity stadium in the NFL. And the bears are Park District tenants, which means they pay rent and share many of the revenue streams.

Lightfoot has tried to persuade the team to stay by offering to build a dome over the stadium, but many saw this as a Hail Mary with little chance of keeping the team within city limits.

Separately, Landmark Development has also proposed a glamorous overhaul of Soldier Field, releasing a nearly six-minute video in January showing designs to address many of the Bears’ complaints about the stadium.

Lightfoot’s office said at the time the mayor supported the developer’s efforts.

But the mayor has also tried to play tough at times, poking fun at the team’s struggles on the field and suggesting how Soldier Field could be rehabilitated without the bears. She has also hinted that if the Bears left, Chicago would attract another football team to the city.

The Bears moved to Park District’s Soldier Field in 1971, but several years later threatened to move to Arlington Heights. Then-Mayor Richard J. Daley threatened a lawsuit to prevent them from calling themselves Chicago Bears if they relocated. His son, Mayor Richard M. Daley, also engaged in years of tense negotiations with the team, which threatened to relocate to Gary, Indiana in 1995.

The Bears could terminate the Soldier Field lease as early as 2026 by paying the city an $84 million penalty, the Tribune reported. This price will decrease in the coming years.

Big city teams opting for more space in the suburbs are not unprecedented. The New York Giants and New York Jets relocated to New Jersey from the city decades ago. The San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders also play outside of the cities they are named after.

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