The developer of a proposed Sox Park at Roosevelt and Clark released renderings of the a future ballpark.
SOUTH LOOP — A developer’s drawings of what a new Sox Park could look like in the South Loop’s The 78 megadevelopment show a glitzy ballpark surrounded by new buildings and sitting on the bank of the Chicago River’s South Branch.
A jump for the Sox from 35th Street to Roosevelt Road would take them two stops up the Red Line and out of their longtime home neighborhood of Bridgeport and into what the Sox envision as a built-up South Loop.
The developer Related Midwest released the renderings Wednesday. Similar versions had circulated online since the Chicago Sun-Times first broke the story that the Sox were in “serious talks” to bolt from the publicly-owned Guaranteed Rate Field and move to vacant land at Roosevelt and Clark that’s been called The 78 because it could be the city’s 78th community area.
Related Midwest owns the land, which was also floated as a casino site before Bally’s won the contract to build it in River West.
Here’s a look at what Related and the White Sox envision.
Ald. Nicole Lee (11th), whose ward includes Bridgeport and Guaranteed Rate Field, previously told Block Club she hopes the Sox consider staying in Bridgeport and in the 11th Ward.
Lee told the Sun-Times that if the team does move, there needs to be a plan for the huge hole the move would leave in the neighborhood.
“We’re a long way from those renderings being a reality,” Lee told the paper. “And no matter what, there has to be redevelopment along 35th Street, to try to keep the Sox there or to attract somebody new. That’s where my focus is.”
Related Midwest also released conceptual drawings of what could be become of a vacated Guaranteed Rate Field, including a conversion to a soccer stadium with housing and park land built on its existing parking lots.
White Sox majority owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s desire for a new home for the team was made public over the summer, when media reports said the team was considering a new stadium in the city or suburbs or even a move to Nashville
Shortly after that, new stadium talks began to focus around The 78, the long-vacant parcel of land in the South Loop that was approved for redevelopment in 2019. Last month, the Sun-Times reported the White Sox were in serious talks with Related Midwest about using space in the mega-development site.
The White Sox have played in Bridgeport since 1910, starting at beloved Comiskey Park and eventually moving to a larger stadium across the street in 1991, which also built as Comiskey Park but has since been renamed multiple times.
The deal to build the new Comiskey Park was forged by city and state lawmakers in 1988, after Reinsdorf threatened to move the team to Florida.
The White Sox current lease at the state-owned Guaranteed Rate Field runs for another five years, according to Crain’s
Here’s What A New Sox Park In The South Loop Could Look Like