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| ALLSTATE ARENA: May soon be history |
For
it seems that the university informed the people at the United Center this week
that they’re not interested in playing the men’s basketball games in the arena
used by the Chicago Bulls, or any kind of auxiliary facility that would double
as a training facility for the NBA franchise.
THE
BLUE DEMONS, it seems, want to focus their attention on building an arena near
the McCormick Place convention center – which would put them on the South Side
right on the lakefront.
Which
would also make some sort of deal with city government officials necessary as
to how to fit an arena into the convention hall-and-hotel complex without
making a complete mess of things.
That
adds to the sports-related negotations taking place these days for city
officials – who these days are devoting some time to trying to figure out how
to do a renovation of the nearly century-old ballpark at Clark and Addison
streets used by the Chicago Cubs.
A
wrench was tossed into those negotiations by suburban Rosemont officials, where
Comcast Sports News reported that village President Brad Stephens is willing to
offer the Cubs a 25-acre parcel of land within his municipality.
TWENTY
FIVE ACRES is much larger than the square block that contains the grandstand
and playing field that the Cubs now use for their ballgames.
Stephens
also indicates a certain flexibility to pretty much let the Cubs have control
of what gets built on those 25 acres – compared to the negotations in Chicago
where city officials are determined to prevent an expanded Wrigley Field from
devastating the character of the few blocks of the Lake View neighborhood known
as “Wrigleyville.”
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| Cubs want to make this decades-old postcard obsolete |
Rosemont,
of course, is the home of the arena once known as the Horizon that has been the
home of Blue Demons basketball for the past three decades. Which makes some
people wonder if this is merely an attention-grabbing stunt by Rosemont to try
to stay in the sports game, should the Blue Demons really return to Chicago.
Somehow,
I just don’t see either option under consideration as being in the best interests
of the athletic teams/programs involved.
I
COMPREHEND WHY the Blue Demons basketball would want to return to the city –
DePaul University is a Lincoln Park neighborhood-based school. The theory is
that playing in a city-based arena would bolster interest amongst the student
body and make it easier for them to actually attend games.
But
the area around McCormick Place isn’t exactly convenient to the DePaul campus.
I could just as easily see students ignore the Blue Demons games played there
just as much as they ignore the ones being played in Rosemont.
There
might not turn out to be any real benefit whatsoever for DePaul – except to
remind us of how far Blue Demons basketball has declined, to the point that
nobody even thinks of them when it comes time for the NCAA Division I
tournament that began this week.
As
for the Cubs, the thought of playing in a suburban-based stadium merely reminds
people of the thoughts of late Mayor Richard J. Daley when the Chicago Bears
seriously thought of moving to the northwest suburbs back in the early 1970s.
DALEY,
THE ELDER, said they’d lose the city name, and would have to become the “Arlington
Heights Bears.” No matter how unrealistic that thought was, it would be felt by
many, and would be a blow to the ball club’s image.
The
“Rosemont Cubs” probably won’t ever happen. Too much of what makes the Cubs
financially viable despite their pitiful record and lack of accomplishments
over so many decades is tied into the building and the way it fits into Lake
View.
Which
may be the key factor for the Cubs to keep in mind as they negotiate with city
officials and those dreaded rooftop owners on Waveland and Sheffield avenues.
The
team may well need them more than the local residents need all those suburban
crowds flooding into the neighborhood 81 days a year.
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