Willis Tower architects pitch Bears domed stadium for Bridgeport site near White Sox

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the firm behind Willis Tower, released renderings Wednesday for a domed Chicago Bears stadium in Bridgeport. The plan includes parking, CTA and Metra access, and space for bars and hotels around the venue.

The site sits south of the area where the White Sox are considering a new ballpark. Adam Semel, managing partner at the firm, said the two projects could rise at the same time. "This is an incredible site for that," Semel said. "You have the CTA, you have Metra, you have the Dan Ryan, we already have parking there. And the idea is while the White Sox are building a new stadium, we could build the Bears simultaneously south of it."

The proposal would move some Chicago Housing Authority housing. Semel's drawings include about 1,500 residential units on the east side, both market rate and affordable. The Bears have said they are focused on a stadium in northwest Indiana. Illinois lawmakers in Springfield could take up a bill aimed at keeping the team in the state. Governor JB Pritzker has said he would support such a bill.

The Bears bought land in Arlington Heights for a stadium and have long been expected to build there. Semel called the Bridgeport plan a generational investment for the South Side. "In our drawings there's about 1,500 units of residential, market rate and affordable on the east side," he said.

The White Sox have two South Loop proposals under review. One places a ballpark at The 78, the other at an Amtrak maintenance site. White Sox minority owner Justin Ishbia favors the Amtrak plan, which would move Amtrak's maintenance yard to Bridgeport. Community groups have opposed that shift.

NBC 5 has requested comment from the Bears and from Pritzker's office on the Bridgeport stadium proposal.