Bears put stadium cards on the table with state agency key to funding deal

Brian Ernst/Sun-Times

The Chicago Bears have shifted their new stadium hopes from Arlington Heights to the parking areas south of their current home, Soldier Field.

The Bears held their first meeting this week with the state agency they need to help bankroll a new domed stadium on the lakefront.

Frank Bilecki, executive director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, said Bears president Kevin Warren is eyeing the same portion of city's hotel tax that the White Sox hope to use to build a new, $1.5 billion stadium in the South Loop.

With the spring legislative session entering a critical juncture, the Bears and Sox have intensified negotiations in an attempt to hammer out a joint financing package that divvies up the bonding capacity and plugs funding gaps.