The Illinois Sports Facility Authority held its third of four planned public meetings in 2026 at Rate Field on Wednesday. This meeting was unique because, for the first time, it drew a large media presence, including Sox Machine. ISFA Chair Leslie Darling addressed the elephant in the room prior to public comment.
“I want to be clear that ISFA shares many of your concerns,” said Darling. “We are your neighbor, and we want to be a good one. We are learning about this project as you are, and doing everything we can to get more information.
“Our main priority is to keep the White Sox right here in our community.”
With the White Sox's lease expiring after the 2029 season unless they exercise an option for one additional season in 2030, Darling also acknowledges that White Sox have a right to explore other options.
“The White Sox have been part of this community for over 100 years. A move would have a substantial impact on all of us - the community and ISFA. We want to keep them here and [are] working towards that,” said Darling.
“We also agree that Amtrak needs to be more transparent about their plans for the community. We don't know their plans, and we don't have the authority to halt Amtrak’s proposal. But we do share the same concerns. “
While ISFA is not aware of Amtrak’s full plans, it’s clear the rail company needs Rate Field’s Lot G parking lot. In the latest designs shared at its most recent community meeting, Amtrak will need ramps to enter its access road, which will follow the rail from 29th Street to 37th Place. The only way to access the ramps is through Lot G from either 33rd Street or Normal Street.
ISFA owns this parking lot. Union Pacific has left the ramps unkept since they vacated the railyard in 2019. Currently, a fenced gate with a padlock prevents the public from driving or walking up the ramp and onto the railyard.
In addition to the access points, Amtrak announced Thursday night that the construction of its maintenance facility will create 3,000 jobs, with a plan for 400 permanent employees. These workers will need a place to park their cars, and Amtrak acknowledges they will need to work with the city of Chicago’s Traffic Management Authority for road closures during viaduct repair.
These Amtrak designs have drawn ire from ISFA board members. How could Amtrak make plans without speaking with the entity that owns the lot?
FUTURE OF RATE FIELD AND THE PARKING LOTS
Frank Bilecki has been ISFA’s Chief Executive Officer since 2021. During the public meeting, Bilecki shared upcoming plans and bids for Rate Field, including extending a drive-thru holiday lights show in Lot B. Beyond the holiday light show, Bilecki is bidding on a Live Nation concert to be hosted at Rate Field in 2027.
11th Ward Ald. Nicole Lee also attended ISFA’s public meeting. She stressed a desire to work with ISFA to begin making plans for Rate Field -- with or without the White Sox. With Justin Ishbia planning to build a new stadium in the South Loop, Bilecki will lead the effort to determine what the future holds for Rate Field’s parking lots.
When the lease expires, ISFA will retain the stadium and parking lots. Any facility maintenance will require state funding, but ISFA plans to explore ideas for redeveloping the 80 acres of parking lots, even with a new Amtrak maintenance facility being built next door.
So why hasn’t ISFA developed the lots? Speaking with several sources, the biggest sticking point was Jerry Reinsdorf’s decision years ago not to renew the lease at Rate Field. Without an anchor tenant, developers have shied away. There’s no point in building commercial buildings next to Rate Field if it’s an empty stadium in 2030.
The challenge that faces Bilecki, and one he’s currently working on, is finding said anchor tenant. As a lifelong White Sox fan whose father worked security at old Comiskey Park, Bilecki shared his disappointment about the White Sox's plans to leave Bridgeport. In emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Bilecki and Darling met with Ishbia for lunch in June 2025, which served as an introduction to the future White Sox chairman.
Two months later, Ishbia met with Amtrak.
There’s a feeling surrounding all parties involved (11th Ward, ISFA) that they never got a fair shot at presenting a plan to Ishbia about the possibilities of staying in Bridgeport. With Amtrak set on using its federal exemptions and the Railyard stadium renderings released, neither the 11th Ward office nor ISFA feels they will get that opportunity. Privately, many in the neighborhood are starting to brainstorm what a future without the White Sox will look like in Bridgeport.
One such idea, to use football lingo, is a Hail Mary attempt to draw interest from the Chicago Bears. With the franchise still undecided on whether to build in Arlington Heights or Northwest Indiana, could Bridgeport residents favor trading a baseball team for the city's beloved Bears? Such a plan would involve using Lots A, B, and C to build a new domed stadium, then use the remaining lots from 37th Street to Pershing to build a football village. With multiple highway access points, plus CTA and Metra stops, the Bears could stay within city limits.
It’s a pie-in-the-sky type of idea, but so was Northwest Indiana a year ago for the Bears.
NEXT STEPS FOR AMTRAK
After another contentious meeting with local politicians and 11th Ward residents Thursday night at the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, Amtrak continues to update the project website to provide transparency about its maintenance facility plans. A sticking point remains over the environmental study and its impact on Bridgeport residents.
“I’m still in opposition to this plan,” said Ald. Lee. “What I heard from the environmental perspective was, 'It’s just not important enough to do. ’”
Attempts to push back against Amtrak moving into Bridgeport will focus on these environmental studies. Amtrak plans to release more data on the project website in the coming weeks and will continue to meet with the city as it prepares to start construction in early 2027.
But there’s the matter of meeting with ISFA. With an 18-month construction timeline, ISFA and the Chicago White Sox stand to lose parking revenue for multiple seasons under Amtrak’s design plans. This only adds to the confusion among ISFA board members about why Amtrak kept them in the dark.
