[CBFF] New arena confirms it: Daley messed up Soldier Field redo

[Michael Beran]

He's another moaner.  Phoenix would love to have the business situation that Chicago has.  The vibrancy of the city and it's growth.  They needed to do someting with no outdoor stadium.  Yes, they may have the Superbowl, but it won't be "every few years".  As to Chicago struggling with trying to get the Olympics, one of the things that won the 2012 Olympics for London over Paris, was a plan to use sites that could easily be done at less expense.  Also they used, as is Chicago's plan rejuvination of urban areas that need it.  Oh the traffic of the Olymics, moan moan moan.  So if Chicago didn't bid then he'd be moaning why we didn't try.  Where's his comments about Bears management in this?  Like they had nothing to do with the stadium changes?
  Phoenix, it's a dry heat....but so's my oven.

Phil DeNomme <pdenomme at gmail.com> wrote:
  Wow, the Chicago city officials sounds about as retarded as Lincoln's. I
swear Lincoln has a retarded monkey running the city some times. 

-----Original Message-----
From: cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com
[mailto:cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com] On Behalf Of Jerry Madsen
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 8:57 AM
To: post at chicagobearsfanforum.com
Subject: [CBFF] New arena confirms it: Daley messed up Soldier Field redo

New arena confirms it: Daley messed up Soldier Field redo

By Lester Munson

As new pro sports stadiums proliferate across the nation, the damage
that Mayor Richard M. Daley inflicted upon his beloved city and its
lakefront when he rebuilt Soldier Field becomes increasingly apparent.

The latest example is the Arizona Cardinals' venue in suburban
Phoenix. Open for its first season, it combines brilliant urban
planning and adept financing in a way Chicagoans can only envy. For
$200 million less than Mayor Daley spent on Soldier Field, the people
of Arizona enjoy a dazzling stadium that features a retractable roof,
air conditioning, countless escalators and elevators and more seats
closer to the action.

What do we have in Chicago? The most expensive stadium in the history
of the sports industry offering the second-smallest number of seats in
the NFL. And it's really only good for Bears games, many of them in
miserable winter weather.

Instead of a domed stadium in a neighborhood with easy access, we have
a small, inaccessible, Bears-only venue that is now an impediment to
the mayor's grandiose plans for a Summer Olympics in 2016.

While Phoenix anticipates a Super Bowl every few years and annual
college bowl games in its new arena, Chicago is struggling to put
together a mammoth plan for an Olympics. Don't look at Soldier Field,
Mayor Daley's planners tell Olympics authorities. For the games, we'll
build another stadium. This time it will be bigger, it will be easily
accessible in Washington Park and it will be temporary.

If it all somehow works, it will bring us the chance to witness
international competitions in rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized
swimming and dressage. It also will bring us six weeks of crowds and
traffic unlike anything ever seen in Chicago. Ask anyone in Atlanta if
they want a return of the Summer Olympics: They'll tell you that if
you expect to make it on time to a competition scheduled for 1 p.m.,
leave home before dawn.

How did we end up in this embarrassing fix?

Soldier Field was all Mayor Daley. He made the decisions. He pushed it
through. He built it his way. In Phoenix, the process was different:
It was an exercise in democracy.

How quaint.

The Arizona stadium planners knew they faced a referendum. They knew
their plans had to make sense. They knew they needed the right
location and the right cost. They presented a plan to the voters that
the voters approved, and now they enjoy a stadium that is arguably the
best in all of sports.

Maybe a little democracy in Chicago would avoid another Soldier Field.
Our chance comes in the mayoral election in February.

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