Former Arlington International Racecourse president thinks facility could house the Bears and horse racing

Posted on October 1, 2021
Arlington International Racecourse is about 35 miles outside of Chicago. (Facebook/Arlington Park)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Horse racing fans upset over losing the Arlington International Racecourse – potentially to a new stadium for the Bears – may have hope.

To hear former Arlington president Roy Arnold tell it, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. “There is absolutely no reason why you can’t have a world-class stadium for the Bears, maintain Arlington Park racetrack as one of the world’s premier racetracks, and have a diversified entertainment district on those 326 acres,” he told a state Senate committee.

Arnold made his own bid for Arlington and says his intent all along was to keep racing there but redevelop the other 200 acres into the kind of entertainment district which, he says, would make the complex a year-round attraction.

The committee hearing on “the future of horse racing in Illinois” was scheduled well before news of the football team’s purchase of the Arlington property became known. Arlington’s owner, Churchill Downs, declined an invitation to attend Thursday’s hearing.

Arnold said he has made “back channel” contact with the Bears and wants to have a meeting with team leaders.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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