Developer Related Midwest hosted an event at The 78 on Sept. 16, 2024, showing off a new baseball field. The White Sox hope to build a new stadium on the site. (Courtesy of Related Midwest)

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said he “couldn’t miss the opportunity to see what this diamond looked like,” when the White Sox and developer Related Midwest invited lawmakers Monday night to visit a temporary baseball field on the site of what they hope will be the new Sox stadium.

All-star athletes including Bo Jackson, Ron Kittle, Harold Baines and Ozzie Guillen were there, too, Welch said — not playing, but to take part in a panel presentation about what a new stadium could mean for the team and the city.

But even though Welch called it a “beautiful baseball field with a great view,” he told a full room at City Club on Tuesday that it wasn’t enough to change his mind that Illinois won’t provide big bucks to make it happen.

“The reality is, we still represent the taxpayers of the state of Illinois,” Welch said. “How do you pay for it?”

Related Midwest is developing a formerly vacant lot it calls The 78 in the South Loop — between Roosevelt, Clark and the Chicago River — and the Sox want to move there. The team also wants the state’s help with building a stadium with a skyline view.

“It’s certainly something I think would be a great economic development project for the city of Chicago, to have 78 neighborhoods,” Welch said.

Welch said the event is “part of the educating” process, but it didn’t change his mind that the developer should prioritize seeking private investment.

Neither the White Sox nor Related Midwest answered emailed questions from WTTW News about Monday’s event.

Related Midwest released renderings in February of a new ballpark at The 78.

“The development would be a catalyst for the creation of Chicago’s next great neighborhood, create tens of thousands of permanent and construction jobs and bring a state-of-the-art White Sox ballpark to the South Loop riverfront,” a Related Midwest spokesperson said in a statement at the time.

Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf traveled to Springfield earlier this year and met with state lawmakers to make a pitch for their help with a new stadium.

“We recognize discussions about The 78 serving as the future home of the Chicago White Sox have generated a lot of excitement over the potential of the larger project’s positive economic impact,” the team’s statement about his visit read. “We are mindful and respectful of the legislative process and wanted to travel to Springfield to meet personally with legislative leaders.”

Other lawmakers who said they attended also said it didn’t sway their opinions on the project.

State Rep. Marcus Evans (D-Chicago) said he appreciated seeing, and experiencing, the developers’ vision.

“They can see a vacant lot and turn it into something special,” Evans said. “So it’s good to see, but it didn’t change the bottom line.”

He said it comes down to money.

“It’s like seeing a new car,” Evans said, noting that he wouldn’t want to buy it “until I see the financing.”

Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]