The Cincinnati Bengals on Friday moved one step closer to securing their own indoor practice facility.
An ordinance for the temporary training facility was approved by Cincinnati’s Planning Commission. That approval cleared up some of the zoning issues that had previously held back the Bengals’ plans.
“Of course it’s unacceptable that Cincinnati is one of the few cities that doesn’t have an indoor facility for its football team, especially since we’re going back to the Super Bowl. We’ve got to get this done. It’s really really important,” Cincinnati’s Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney said, via WLWT5.
The approval will permit the Bengals to operate the facility over the next five years. Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s legal teams says they intend to move fast with the plans and hope to have the confines up and running prior to the 2022 regular season.
“I think it’s a wonderful time to be connected in some way to support the Bengals and going back to the Super Bowl,” commission chairman Byron Stallworth said, via ESPN. “Who dey!”
The Bengals were one of just two NFL teams above the 36th northern parallel without an indoor practice facility. The San Francisco 49ers now stand alone in that regard, though the weather in the Bay Area isn’t as limiting as in Cincinnati.
