After about two weeks of training camp for the Chicago Bears, fans parking their vehicles at Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills and taking shuttles to the practices said they’re enjoying the experience, as village officials are grateful those fans are also visiting local restaurants and businesses.
Last year, the Bears moved their training camp to Halas Hall in Lake Forest. As part of the move, the NFL team made a deal with Hawthorn Mall that to have the mall provide free parking to fans attending practice. Those fans were to be bused from the mall to Halas Hall, which is about a five-mile drive.
However, despite village approval of the deal in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic derailed plans for fans to attend the practices. As a result, this is the second year for the Bears at Halas Hall, but the first that fans can attend.
Aleks Bojic, 28, of Morton Grove, said he’s been attending Bears practices for several years now. After attending the team’s Aug. 6 practice, Bojic described the facilities in Lake Forest as “amazing.” However, he said he wasn’t a fan of how the team raffled off tickets as part of a way to keep down attendance, which limited how many people Bojic could bring with him.
“Otherwise, it was a first-class experience,” Bojic said.
Comparing Halas Hall to the Bears’ previous training camp location at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Bojic said Halas Hall is more “intimate” because there aren’t as many people.
Peter Lewis, 38, and Tara Lewis, 36, of Libertyville, said it was cool to get that close to the field and see the players. Peter Lewis said the last time he attended a Bears practice, he was about 9 years old, when the Bears held it in Platteville, Wisc.
“Being on the grounds (of Halas Hall) was really cool,” Peter said.
Jack Poskus, 22, of Skokie, said getting to see the players up close was a cool experience, and that he hopes to do it again.
“Blew my expectations away for sure,” he said.
Vernon Hills Assistant Village Manager Jon Petrillo said so far, the agreement with the Bears, Hawthorn Mall and the village is working out “ideally.” He said officials have seen fans both before and after going to practice visiting restaurants and businesses in Vernon Hills.
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As an example, ESPN Chicago 1000-AM radio station at one point set up shop in one of the restaurants, Petrillo said.
“It’s cool to see entire families go to area restaurants and be in a festive mood,” Petrillo said. “I would say it’s working out as planned.”
Village Manager Kevin Timony said it was all part of the goal to get people to “experience Vernon Hills.”
While the fans said they enjoyed watching the practice, their expectations for the team went only so high. Several fans said they predict the Bears to win either eight or nine games this year.
Bojic said with the addition of rookie quarterback Justin Fields, he’s more optimistic. Though, He predicts a similar outing to last two years, where the Bears won eight games.
Poskus said he expects Fields to sit half of the season, saying he thinks it’s good for rookie quarterbacks to develop.
Tara Lews said overall the team looked good at practice on the Friday she attended.
“It was excellent,” Lewis said. “Go Bears.”
