Renderings of the proposed White Sox stadium have arrived, and there’s already controversy among baseball fans

The White Sox may be getting a new home, and it could come with a very different view of Chicago.

As reported by Block Club Chicago, Future White Sox owner Justin Ishbia has unveiled plans for a new ballpark in the South Loop as part of a massive proposed development called The Railyards. The project would put the Sox in a new riverfront stadium just west of The 78, less than 2 miles from their current home at Rate Field.

The proposed stadium would anchor a larger mixed-use development along the Chicago River, with residential, commercial and retail components planned around it. Renderings show a ballpark with an open roof, brickwork and arches that nod to old Comiskey Park, plus a particularly Chicago feature: the right-field edge would sit directly alongside the river, potentially giving home runs a chance to bob along in the current.

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It's a significant shift for a franchise that has called Bridgeport home for 116 years. But don't start planning your opening-day outfit just yet. The Railyards stadium is currently under feasibility study, and plenty of hurdles remain before anything is built. The site is currently occupied by an active Amtrak rail yard, meaning the project would require relocating rail operations and adding the transportation and infrastructure needed to handle roughly 40,000 baseball fans on game days.

And that rail relocation is already causing friction. Chicago officials and Bridgeport community leaders have raised concerns about a proposal to move Amtrak's maintenance facility into their neighborhood if the South Loop project goes forward.

Ald. Nicole Lee and Cook County Commissioner John Daley blasted the plan, writing in a joint statement: "Today’s announcement from Justin Ishbia represents nothing less than a betrayal to the community that the White Sox have called home and relied upon as their most loyal fan base for 116 years. If approved, this would drive a knife into the heart of this community, abandoning Bridgeport and sticking us with an empty stadium and 24/7 Amtrak maintenance facility in a residential neighborhood, with no protections against the environmental impacts, not to mention the economic ones.”

For now, the Sox haven't committed to leaving Rate Field, and no final decision has been made. But this is shaping up to be as fierce a competition as anything in the stadium itself.