{"id":744587,"date":"2026-02-11T11:11:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/744587\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T11:11:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:11:35","slug":"gary-declares-itself-open-for-business-eyes-chicago-bears-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/744587\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary declares itself open for business, eyes Chicago Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Brief<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gary leaders declared the city &#8220;open for business,&#8221; highlighting economic momentum and major investments from U.S. Steel, the Gary\/Chicago International Airport and Hard Rock Casino.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mayor Eddie Melton said the city is pursuing the Chicago Bears with three proposed stadium sites, branding the effort &#8220;The Ultimate Comeback.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Officials said that regardless of whether the Bears relocate, Gary is experiencing significant economic growth, including up to $3.1 billion in planned U.S. Steel investments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">GARY, Ind. &#8211; The city of Gary declared itself open for business during a fireside chat hosted by Mayor Eddie Melton and leaders from three major industries: U.S. Steel, the Gary\/Chicago International Airport and Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">What we know<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Melton opened the discussion with an optimistic message about the city\u2019s economic future, saying Gary is moving forward, leaving behind difficult years and investing in a stronger business climate \u2014 including an effort to attract the Chicago Bears to Indiana.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I\u2019m not blind to the stigma some communities and some people have about Gary\u2026,&#8221; Melton said. &#8220;Gary has the audacity to say it can be the next home of the Chicago Bears.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">City officials have identified three potential stadium sites: near Hard Rock Casino, at Buffington Harbor and near the Indiana Dunes. Conceptual drawings of the proposals were released last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After a season marked by late-game heroics, the Bears could be part of what Gary is calling &#8220;The Ultimate Comeback&#8221; \u2014 a stadium project city leaders say would build on Gary\u2019s industrial base and transportation assets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I\u2019m looking at you, Brandon Johnson. It\u2019s the Gary &#8211; Chicago Airport,&#8221; Melton said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gary faces regional competition from Hammond and Portage, Indiana, in the effort to lure the team across state lines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Business leaders said landing the Bears would bring significant economic impact for Northwest Indiana workers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Daniel M. Killeen, General Manager of U.S Steel, the largest employer in Gary, said, &#8220;We\u2019re spending $900 million on this facility with a path to spend $3.1 billion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He\u2019s talking about US Steel\u2019s business investments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gary wants the world to know, with or without the Chicago Bears, economic growth is happening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Source<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago&#8217;s Joanie Lum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief Gary leaders declared the city &#8220;open for business,&#8221; highlighting economic momentum and major investments from U.S.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":744588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,107106,692,391,2493,106207,7,107103,107102,6,107104,107105],"class_list":{"0":"post-744587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-business-investments","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bears","12":"tag-chicagobears","13":"tag-eddie-melton","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-gary-chicago-international-airport","16":"tag-hard-rock-casino","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-open-for-business","19":"tag-u-s-steel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116051698320516939","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/744588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}