Bears Fans Blitz Team With Offers of Practice Facilities

Fans of the Chicago Bears have rushed to the rescue in response to a plea by team officials searching for a practice facility.

Bears President Mike McCaskey earlier this week urged people to come forward and share their facilities with the NFL team. Telephones at the team’s headquarters in this northern Chicago suburb have been ringing off the hook ever since.

The team has been offered a range of locations, from a barn to closed churches.

Players had revolted after working out on the muddy practice field behind Halas Hall. They cited injury risks and said they were at a disadvantage against warm-weather opponents.

McCaskey and Tim LeFevour, the club’s director of administration, sifted through the ideas from 140 phone calls and faxes. They came up with a list of nine sites.

One of those sites is the former Niles East High School, owned by Oakton Community College and no longer used. The college called the Bears to say the team could erect a bubble on the field or put down artificial turf in the field house, which is the length of three basketball courts.

Duane Morton of Odyssey Research Ltd., who is developing a plastic bubble for a NASA moon project, is seeking permission from the space agency to build a prototype for the Bears.