17 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

You are correct:

In January 1965, Chicago White Sox owner Art Allyn met with American Football League (AFL) Commissioner Joe Foss to discuss placing a new professional football franchise in Chicago. [1, 2]

• The Problem for the AFL: The AFL desperately wanted a sports market presence in Chicago—the "Midwest heartland of football"—but venue options were highly limited. Northwestern's Dyche Stadium was unavailable

Dyche Stadium was dry at the time, no Pro football team would ever move there.

3 hours ago, Falstaff said:

Dyche Stadium was dry at the time, no Pro football team would ever move there.

The Chicago Cardinals signed an agreement to play the 1959 season at Dyche stadium.George Halas objected to this. One of the previous Cardinals owners signed an agreement stating he would not move the Cardinals north of Madison avenue. NFL Commisioner Bert Bell agreed with Halas. The Cardinals wound up playing the 1959 season at Soldier Field. If the Cardinals were allowed to play at Dyche Stadium they would not have moved to St. Louis.

52 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

The Chicago Cardinals signed an agreement to play the 1959 season at Dyche stadium.George Halas objected to this. One of the previous Cardinals owners signed an agreement stating he would not move the Cardinals north of Madison avenue. NFL Commisioner Bert Bell agreed with Halas. The Cardinals wound up playing the 1959 season at Soldier Field. If the Cardinals were allowed to play at Dyche Stadium they would not have moved to St. Louis.

At most it would have been a stop gap move, the Cardinals were in financial trouble.

6 hours ago, Mouthsider said:

Though the LaSalle Street Station is close, I do hope for a Rock Island station at the 78. Getting off right next to McDonald’s Park and taking a short walk over the river to the Railyards would be delightful.

I‘d imagine a Rock Island stop is something Mansueto would be more involved with than Ishbia, similarly to how Ishbia would be more involved with a stop for the BNSF line than Mansueto. Hopefully those two put their heads together and encourage Metra to do this.

That would be cool, but it'd be Metra's call, of course.

Another potential train stop at the site is a Red Line station at the SE corner of the 78. This was shelved due to cost and neighborhood opposition. But, if the area gets totally developed with 2 stadiums, a medical campus, and residential high rises, that could be reconsidered.....though the Red Line stop at Roosevelt and State is only a few blocks away.

Reactions from Northwestern CEO Dr. Howard Chrisman, Ald. Ervin (whose 28th Ward includes the rail yards), and Mayor Johnson:

"The South Loop presents an opportunity to create something bigger than a healthcare facility or a stadium. It's an opportunity to strengthen an entire community," said Dr. Howard Chrisman, president and CEO of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, in a statement. "When Northwestern Medicine invests in a community, we are investing in health, jobs, opportunity and Chicago's longterm future."

Ald. Ervin: "I look forward to engaging with the White Sox, 28th Ward residents, and my colleagues in the City Council about a development that has the potential to create good-paying jobs for Chicagoans, improve our transportation infrastructure, and provide a long-term home for one of our city’s storied franchises. 

"At the same time, Chicago faces significant fiscal challenges, and any proposal must protect taxpayers and demonstrate that the public benefits justify any public investment. I will approach these discussions with an open mind and a clear focus on what is in the best interests of the 28th Ward and the City of Chicago."

Mayor Johnson: "Mr. Ishbia and Mr. Chrisman committed to remaining in dialogue with the City as they work to engage and build support from community members, other local elected officials, and potential partners."

"If this vision moves from concept to development, the City will facilitate the process for public review and approval in accordance with all applicable local, state, and federal laws, while centering the interests of all Chicago residents."

FOX 32 Chicago

New Chicago White Sox stadium renderings revealed for riv...

A minority owner of the White Sox revealed new renderings of a possible stadium along the Chicago River.

ABC7 Chicago

'The Railyards:' New renderings show proposal for riverfr...

A proposal to move the Chicago White Sox from Rate Field to a new riverfront stadium in the South Loop is drawing mixed reactions from fans and elected officials as the team considers the concept as a

10 hours ago, WBWSF said:

The Chicago Cardinals signed an agreement to play the 1959 season at Dyche stadium.George Halas objected to this. One of the previous Cardinals owners signed an agreement stating he would not move the Cardinals north of Madison avenue. NFL Commisioner Bert Bell agreed with Halas. The Cardinals wound up playing the 1959 season at Soldier Field. If the Cardinals were allowed to play at Dyche Stadium they would not have moved to St. Louis.

I vaguely remember the Bears scrambling to find a new stadium when the NFL changed the rules on stadium seating capacity in 1970. Dyche Stadium was mentioned as a possibility in the papers before the Bears ended up in Soldier Field.

Soldier Field was a terrible facility back then so were the Bears.

17 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

You are correct:

In January 1965, Chicago White Sox owner Art Allyn met with American Football League (AFL) Commissioner Joe Foss to discuss placing a new professional football franchise in Chicago. [1, 2]

The details of their meeting and the surrounding context include:

• The Meeting Objective: Allyn met with Foss in Chicago to officially pitch securing an AFL expansion franchise that would play its home games at Comiskey Park, the home stadium of the White Sox. Allyn also advocated for a companion expansion team in Milwaukee to foster a natural regional rivalry. [1]

• The Problem for the AFL: The AFL desperately wanted a sports market presence in Chicago—the "Midwest heartland of football"—but venue options were highly limited. Northwestern's Dyche Stadium was unavailable and Soldier Field was deemed impractical at the time, making Allyn's Comiskey Park the only viable stadium option. [1]

• The Outcome: Although Foss confirmed he received the formal application from Allyn, the AFL ultimately chose to stand pat with eight teams for the 1965 season to focus on league parity. The league delayed expansion that year, and by 1966, Foss resigned as commissioner. Shortly thereafter, the historic AFL-NFL merger agreement ended the need for a separate AFL team in Chicago. [1, 2, 3, 4]

I remember all of this. I was hoping for another Pro team in Chicago. I grew up in a family of White Sox/Chicago Cardinals fans. I was at the last Chicago Cardinals home game in 1959. If the 2 leagues hadn't merged Chicago would have had another team in the city. The merger killed that.Halas would never allow another team here. They are content having a monopoly of NFL football in Chicago. It doesn't matter if they win or lose, the team sells out all their games. They have a 30 year waiting list for season tickets. There is really no incentive for them to have good teams. They have a goldmine here.

On 9/6/2026 at 5:42 AM, Kyyle23 said:

He looked at the renderings with a much more critical eye than all of us amateurs

Can’t wait for the environmental studies to come up.

6 minutes ago, nitetrain8601 said:

Can’t wait for the environmental studies to come up.

They know the state of the property and remediation is almost certainly already factored in.

6 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

They know the state of the property and remediation is almost certainly already factored in.

Sorry, I get my environmental studies from professionals on Soxtalk…

😌

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

They know the state of the property and remediation is almost certainly already factored in.

Correct. Ishbia’s group has begun actively investigating their next steps:

Canal Edge said The Railyards development is still in its early stages. It is beginning a feasibility study that will review issues including transportation and environmental impact.

Edited September 7Sep 7 by Mouthsider

On 9/6/2026 at 12:43 PM, Lip Man 1 said:

I question your comment about the AFL wanting to put a team in Chicago. Based on everything I've read about the AFL and I was a fan, I've never seen anything along those lines.

If you can provide some links sourcing this I'd appreciate it.

I've read that the stadium never got off the ground because then Mayor Daley actually wanted it built literally in Lake Michigan near where Meggs Field was and environmentalists objected plus the Bears said they did not want to share a stadium with anyone.

Not sure about the AFL itself, but in 1964 two competing groups were bidding to land an AFL franchise for Chicago.

Virgil Carter - Chicago Fire

On 8/21/2026 at 2:38 PM, almagest said:

Is Bridgeport really gentrifying? Because it's been "gentrifying" since I was at IIT in the early 2000s, and not much has changed whenever I've visited friends when back in town or gone to Sox games. It also doesn't have great public transportation access unless you live near Sox/35th red line stop or the Ashland Orange Line stop.

Seems like most of the serious gentrification over the past couple decades has been along the N Milwaukee corridor.

Bridgeport is not gentrifying. Yes there are million dollar single family homes now, but there has't been a vast transformation over the past 20 years like we have seen in the South or West Loop.

On 8/21/2026 at 4:00 PM, Mouthsider said:

I know it’s currently a railyard, but it’s specifically a mostly unused railyard that’s a world away from what Amtrak is describing as its replacement. I’m not anti-Amtrak by any means, but residents are justified in worrying about the effects of a 24/7 maintenance facility going up right next to them.

This next part is a bit speculative, but Amtrak is already saying that Lots C and G will be required to construct the facility. There’s been some wonder as to what’s going to happen to those lots after the Sox move. It seems that writing is starting to appear on the wall.

Currently mostly unused. But it exists for a reason. It was in use not that long ago. We aren't talking decades either.

On 8/31/2026 at 7:20 PM, southsider2k5 said:

So someone from Bridgeport is afraid to go downtown?

Do you actually expect someone to believe this "story"

Forget it, he's rolling...

On 9/1/2026 at 2:01 PM, southsider2k5 said:

So what is different between there and the west side where he is building like crazy around the UC?

United Center has been open since 1994? For 30 years nothing has been developed on those UC lots. If JR really wanted to he could have greased wheels to get things done.

On 9/1/2026 at 2:15 PM, southsider2k5 said:

Supposedly Bridgeport has been on the same (or better) elevator ride up. I am also not following why the ISFA WOULDN'T want development around Sox Park as it would mean more people at games, which is more tax dollars to all of the entities involved here? The Sox have also had plenty of huge dollars come in from their investors like Hobson and now Ishbia in the last five years.

As the West Loop? Not even close. West Loop has transformed while Bridgeport has remained virtually the same.

1 minute ago, Tnetennba said:

As the West Loop? Not even close. West Loop has transformed while Bridgeport has remained virtually the same.

Supposedly was doing heavy lifting. West Loop and South Loop have exploded in the 25 years.

On 9/1/2026 at 3:05 PM, southsider2k5 said:

Again, the easiest thing would be just to stand pat on both accounts. He didn't stand pat with the Bulls. He also isn't standing pat with the Sox. He's taking on risk both on the west side of Chicago, and massive risk in the south Loop. The most simple thing to do would be the status quo in Bridgeport. He didn't do that, even before the sale announcement with looking for a new park in the 78. The next easiest thing to do would be to build new on site in Bridgeport. He didn't do that in the 78 pitch, nor does he appear to be doing that with the crazy complex transaction about to happen around the south loop. That is NOT the most simple explanation.

Comiskey II in 1991 and and the UC in 1994. Little to nothing has been developed outside either location for decades. Call it whatever you will, but if he tried, he didn't try very hard.

On 9/4/2026 at 6:45 PM, 77 Hitmen said:

Thanks for sharing. And yeah, Mendoza is definitely doing this because she's running for mayor just like she issued a "finding" during the last few days of the General Assembly spring session criticizing the proposed legislation that would have let the Bears move to Arlington Heights.

Here's some interesting points from the article:

• Amtrak had plans for Bridgeport long before Ishbia got involved and even before he was considered as the next Sox owner. The original plan was for Amtrak to build their maintenance facility just west of Rate Field (between 33rd and 37th) even with the assumption the Sox would remain at Rate Field.

• Amtrak didn't believe the existing 14th St. Yard or Union Pacific's "Global 1" site at Western Ave were suitable for their needs.

• That "Global 1" site is rumored to be where BNSF would move their facility if it leaves the 14th St. site. (btw, this is at 1425 S. Western - just north of the BNSF Western Ave Metra stop)

• After they met with Ishbia was when they decided to add the train yard between 26th and 29th for the rest of their facility so that they could vacate 14th St.

• Locomotive and railcar maintenance would be performed indoors.

• Amtrak claims air emissions would be less than they were when this was operating as a freight yard.

• In the comments, Josh Nelson says the railyard has been dormant since 2019.

I found the last item interesting. So, it was an active freight yard as recently as 2019? If so, it's not like it's been dormant for decades and decades. How would noise and air emissions from an Amtrak facility compare to what was going on just before Covid on those train parcels?

I am late to the party, but this is accurate. These facilities were active within the past decade.

I know Ishbia needs to be vague about his intentions because Jerry still owns the team, but I'm curious about this from the Crain's article:

Ishbia’s statement, meanwhile, said the stadium concept is “beginning a multi-month study and feasibility review evaluating a range of factors from transportation to environmental impact. If feasible, this plan could be presented to Chicago White Sox leadership for consideration as one of the team’s ballpark options when its current lease in the state-owned ballpark ends.

Does anyone really believe that they'll complete this study in a few months and conclude that a stadium isn't feasible there and they're dropping this plan? I can't imagine he has gone this far into the process with buying land from Amtrak and BNSF without having a team of experts that has already studied the feasibility of this site.

I wonder what the plan is for the St Charles Air Line Bridge. It's jointly owned by BNSF, UP and CN. Would be a great rail to trail opportunity if they can get those companies to sell, which may be a big ask knowing the railroad companies.

Edited Tuesday at 01:36 AM5 days by ron883

4 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

I know Ishbia needs to be vague about his intentions because Jerry still owns the team, but I'm curious about this from the Crain's article:

Ishbia’s statement, meanwhile, said the stadium concept is “beginning a multi-month study and feasibility review evaluating a range of factors from transportation to environmental impact. If feasible, this plan could be presented to Chicago White Sox leadership for consideration as one of the team’s ballpark options when its current lease in the state-owned ballpark ends.

Does anyone really believe that they'll complete this study in a few months and conclude that a stadium isn't feasible there and they're dropping this plan? I can't imagine he has gone this far into the process with buying land from Amtrak and BNSF without having a team of experts that has already studied the feasibility of this site.

It's about the same odds as a certain someone buying season tickets at the new location.

2 minutes ago, ron883 said:

I wonder what the plan is for the St Charles Air Line Bridge. It's jointly owned by BNSF, UP and CN. Would be a great rail to trail opportunity if they can get those companies to sell, which may be a big ask knowing the railroad companies.

I believe the St. Charles Air Line Bridge is still in use (sometimes). I read a piece forever ago about implications for Amtrak if they could upgrade it and get it fully functioning again. If so, I’m not sure if it could be of use for this development.

However, in the same piece, I became educated on the B&OCT Bridge, the abandoned bridge literally right next to it. That one’s been out of use for so long that it currently lacks a counterweight and doesn’t even have rails leading up to it. I don’t think any rail companies are interested in turning it back online again, either (CSX might own it? But it’s unusable in its current state). If Ishbia’s going to do a rail-to-trail conversion, he should go after that one. It’s a sleeping giant.