Bears take major step toward Hammond, Indiana stadium with board vote

The Chicago Bears took another step toward a potential move across state lines.

The Bears’ board of directors voted on June 4 to move forward with a potential stadium in Hammond, Indiana, at a site still to be determined, the team announced on June 5.

“We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city,” Bears chairman George H. McCaskey and team president and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement. “It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses.”

The move comes four days after the Bears said they remained on a “late spring/early summer timeline” for deciding between possible stadium sites in Hammond and Arlington Heights, Illinois.

On June 1, Illinois lawmakers adjourned for the spring session without taking up a measure passed by the state senate that would have allowed for the creation of local stadium authorities, which would have bolstered the outlook for a possible Arlington Heights site.