Do The Limbo

The next time anyone mentions what great philanthropists the McCaskeys are, consider that they’re saddling Chicago with a $631-million bill, of which they’ll contribute maybe $84 million. These and other figures appeared in a story in yesterday’s Tribune about the costs of renovating Soldier Field back in 2003. The Bears were the driving force for a rebuilt stadium, unless you think Bruce Springsteen and the Grateful Dead have that kind of clout. What the Bears wanted, the Chicago Park District, under the de facto control of Mayor Richard M. Daley, granted by issuing bonds responsible for the current debt figure. At the time, nobody thought the team would walk away from Soldier Field after so much money was spent on it. But that’s exactly what the Bears intend to do. And it was made possible from the start. The Bears’ lease with the Park District calls for the team to pay a slap-on-the-wrist penalty instead of the remaining debt on the stadium. The team released a statement to the Tribune that, “Paying off the bond debt is not the Bears’ responsibility and has never been contingent upon the team’s home games at Soldier Field.” But it should have been. In true Bears’ fashion, the statement also includes a whiny complaint about paying “one of the highest annual rents for an NFL team,” which they put at $118 million since 2003. Pardon me if my math is off, but that comes out to under $6 million a year. If that’s too much rent for the Munsters, what happens if and when they move to Arlington Heights? That’ll mean no rent, but property taxes, over which they want to have the power to negotiate with neighboring communities. How low will they go? As low as the philanthropic McCaskeys can get away with.