NOTE: The video above is from previous reporting on the stadium project.
While there hasn’t been much progress on a proposed Chicago White Sox stadium project in the South Loop, the team is building a baseball diamond at the location to showcase exactly what it could look like if the vision becomes a reality.
In late August, NBC Chicago’s Mike Lorber observed the beginnings of a baseball diamond at the location of “The 78” development near 31st Street, and on Tuesday saw that there was sod being installed at the site.
The diamond is angled with a view of the iconic Chicago skyline in the background, a departure from the positioning of Guaranteed Rate Field.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the diamond was constructed with the help of famed groundskeeper Roger Bossard as a way to “showcase how a baseball field could enhance and fit in with the greater plans for the neighborhood.”
The proposed stadium project would be located in a development known as “The 78,” an area in Chicago’s South Loop bounded by Roosevelt Road on the north, the Chicago River to the west, Clark Street to the east and railroad tracks near Ping Tom Park to the south.
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According to officials, the proposed site would feature public transit access via three CTA lines that stop at Roosevelt and State, as well as numerous bus routes.
While team owner Jerry Reinsdorf has indicated he will seek public funding to help build the stadium, the idea has received a frosty reception in Springfield, with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker saying that such a stadium proposal “is not a priority” for lawmakers in Springfield.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been more receptive to the idea, but the project has not taken any concrete steps forward since renderings were released earlier this year. The team also proposed the idea of using hotel taxes to help finance the project, but those funds are currently being used to retire debt on the 2002 renovation of Soldier Field.
The White Sox are currently set to continue playing at Guaranteed Rate Field through the conclusion of the 2028 season when their lease expires.
Crain’s Chicago Business reported that the White Sox would consider moving out of the stadium at the conclusion of their lease, with the possibility of them leaving Chicago on the table.
