Colleagues affectionately regard Bill McGrane as directionally impaired. Stories abound of his misadventures on the road, including the second time he tried to drive to Champaign but got caught in the I-PASS lane, overshot his turnoff and ended up in Calumet City.
“Many, many” trips later, the Bears’ director of administration can pretty much tell you, in hours, minutes and mile markers, the direct route from the doorstep of Halas Hall to the Bears’ home next season while Soldier Field is being rebuilt.
With preparations well under way for the 2002 season, beginning with the first “home” exhibition game against Denver on Aug. 10 at Illinois’ Memorial Stadium, as well as for the first training camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais beginning July 26, it’s safe to say there has been no off-season for the Bears’ front office.
McGrane and Brian Pett, the Bears’ director of stadium operations, are the point men for the move south. But as anyone at Halas Hall can attest, the preparations involve more than loading up the moving vans and setting off down Interstate 57.
Memorial Stadium gets ready for football every fall, but making it NFL-ready requires the installation and renovation of everything from wiring for the replay system to a new video scoreboard to upgraded locker rooms and press box.
To meet league standards, the Bears have had to erect structures and scaffolding for NFL Films, as well as additional replay and radio booths. They have remodeled the home and visitors dressing rooms with old lockers taken from Soldier Field.
They also have plans to cover seats in one end zone and around the perimeter of the field because of poor sight lines. That will put seating capacity at about 68,000, roughly 1,000 less than the old Soldier Field.
Yard-line hash marks and numbers will simply take a splash of paint. The goalposts are shorter and a different color for Illini games, so the Soldier Field goalposts have been shipped Downstate.
The Bears hope their players will like the Illini’s year-old Astro-Play field, artificial grass with a softer cushion and longer fibers than most synthetic surfaces. But that is unlikely to cushion the blow of playing 20 road games.
From the university and Champaign County perspective, the issue of alcohol in the stadium is a new one.
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“It’s everything from dealing with identification, to screening for verifying whether people are eligible to purchase alcohol, to monitoring points of sale to make sure people working those areas are playing by the rules and then trying to be alert for people who manage to slip through the system anyway,” said Capt. Rick Kallmayer of the University of Illinois Police Department at the Urbana campus.
“The biggest concern we may have is an increase in disorderly conduct from fans who have overindulged. One of the reasons the university doesn’t allow alcohol in the stadium for UI games [tailgaters will be allowed to imbibe at both Illini and Bears games] is because it discourages disorderly conduct. But it’s a fact of life for NFL events … and there’s probably more smoke than fire on that issue.”
Champaign and Illinois officials can only guess at the congestion Bears games will bring.
“Our initial feeling was that people would come on Saturday night and then go home,” said Andrea Ruedi, president and chief executive officer of the Champaign County Alliance, the parent corporation for the Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors Bureau and Economic Development Corp. “But our hotel [reservations] for Sunday nights indicate that a lot of fans are staying over Sunday.”
On that topic, Ruedi said her organization was “greatly concerned” over reports of price-gouging by area hotels because an agreement had been struck among members of the local hotel/motel association to stick with special-events rates already in place. According to sources, only one property was guilty of overcharging.
Otherwise, while no firm numbers are available, the economic impact to Champaign businesses, like those in Bourbonnais, is highly anticipated. Ruedi said a community pride campaign as well as a beautification movement, which will include Bears banners on signposts, is already under way.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for our community and such a windfall for us,” she said. “On `Monday Night Football’ [vs. the Packers, Oct. 7], when the blimp flies over Champaign County will be thrilling for us and a real chance for us to really shine.”
The team will travel Downstate by charter plane from O’Hare for regular-season contests and stay at a hotel in Decatur, about a 45-minute drive from Champaign.
The team was considering taking trains, but players said they wanted to get home quickly.
The team is not organizing fan trips and will refer inquiring fans to bus companies.
For those making the drive, the Illinois Department of Transportation will shut down construction on I-57 on the Thursdays or Fridays before home games throughout the fall.
Once in Champaign-Urbana, McGrane said, Chicago fans will find almost 13,000 parking spots, more than twice as many as there are at Soldier Field.
The Illini and the Bears will play only once on the same weekend at Memorial Stadium, on Sept. 21-22, easing the logistical difficulties.
The only thing that really scares those involved, McGrane said, is the prospect of a major snowfall with two December games, including a season-ending night game against Tampa Bay on Dec. 29, and possible playoffs.
“We should have the equipment we need [to clear snow from the field, stands and parking areas], but you also have to turn loose 200 to 300 people to shovel,” he said.
Moving the Bears’ training camp to Bourbonnais should be considerably less complicated, though no less hectic.
“It’s a work in progress, but we’re way ahead of the game as far as being on time,” said Brian McCaskey, the Bears’ director of business development, who along with Clyde Emrich is heading the move to the new facilities.
Bourbonnais is an hour south of Chicago, and much of the $1.5 million the Bears spent on renovating the facilities at Olivet Nazarene was with fans in mind.
A 700-foot grass-covered embankment, reminiscent of the incline surrounding the practice fields in Platteville, Wis., will border the practice fields. There also will be 10 sets of bleachers that can seat 140 people each.
“Obviously, summer camp has an outdoor feel to it, and we want this to be a step up,” said Gary Griffin, Olivet Nazarene’s director of university relations and local point man for the Bears’ camp.
The Bears’ Bourbonnais camp will offer free parking for about 3,000 cars on campus, an interactive game area for children just inside the main gates, a Bears store, concessions stands and first aid and “mist” tents to cool fans on particularly hot days.
“They have impressed us,” McCaskey said a little less than a year after the Bears signed a two-year contract with Olivet with an option for a third. “They’ve given us everything we’ve asked for, and everything they’ve promised they’ve come through on.”
Further enhancing the family atmosphere is the policy banning alcohol and tobacco on campus. “It’s not like fans were allowed to drink [on campus] in Platteville,” McCaskey said, “so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
The Bears are hoping the camp’s proximity to Chicago will bring more fans to visit.
“You can leave your work in downtown Chicago at noon, go to an afternoon practice and still be home by dinnertime,” Griffin said.
The prospect of a potentially huge influx of tourists has been a concern to some Bourbonnais citizens, but city officials tried to address those fears through meetings with law-enforcement officials, the mayor’s office and community groups.
“The police chief has been working with state and county police, and even though this is a new experience for us, we’re totally prepared and looking forward to it,” Bourbonnais Mayor Bob Latham said.
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“I think the citizens have enough confidence in our police and local officials that we can handle it.
“Certainly the Kankakee River Valley area business people are not among those worried.”
To promote good relations, the Bears have asked Olivet officials to keep concession prices as low as possible and, unlike the Washington Redskins, have no plans to charge admission.
The team also has also set up a Web site (www.Bearstrainingcamp.info) and a hot line (815-35Bears) for practice times and last-minute changes.
The players’ facilities also are an upgrade. The team dining hall will have central air conditioning, as will the locker rooms, meeting rooms and dorms.
“Before the camp ever starts, our facilities are a major upgrade for the Chicago Bears,” Griffin said.