Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled plans for Soldier Field that could cost up to $2.2 billion as part of her ongoing campaign to keep the bears from skipping the city to Arlington Heights — or at least deflecting the blame when the venerable sports team leaves.
Lightfoot’s presentation, made at Soldier Field to a group of the city’s top business leaders, said her administration wants the bears to stay in Chicago but also makes improvements to the museum campus where they sit, even if they leave.
The first option would be to enclose the stadium with a dome. Another option would be to convert the stadium to make it ‘dome-ready’, with pillars at both end zones, while the third would convert the venue into a multi-use facility better suited to football ‘while retaining its flexibility’ for others events is improved.
“Soldier Field needs to be a year-round destination,” Lightfoot said.
The mayor said the cost of the project and the option would depend on who the stadium’s “anchor tenant” was, but suggested the city might be willing to move forward with a dome for another team, noting that it there are other cities that host more than one NFL team.
But Lightfoot’s presentation left as many questions as it provided answers. Could a dome be enough to convince the bears to stay in a stadium they don’t own or control? Who would pay for the construction?
For their part, the bears showed no interest in the city’s announcement. Asked for comment, the NFL team released a statement they originally released earlier this month.
“The only potential project the Chicago Bears are considering for a new stadium development is Arlington Park. As part of our mutual agreement with the seller of this property, we are not pursuing any alternative stadium deals or locations, including renovations of Soldier Field, while we are under contract,” the Bears said. “We have notified the City of Chicago that we intend to honor our contractual obligations while we continue our due diligence and pre-development activities at the Arlington Heights property.”
But the mayor said the Bears would be “foolish” not to consider staying in Chicago. She and other speakers argued that it would be cheaper for the team to stay at Soldier Field than to build a new venue elsewhere, and emphasized the importance of the team and fans delivering an experience that is about the game himself goes out.
“How do we redesign the matchday experience? How do we create an immersive fan experience? This is where the (world) is going,” said Bob Dunn of Landmark Development, a member of the mayor’s museum campus panel.
Lightfoot’s first reaction to the NFL team’s interest in building a stadium in Arlington Heights was to call it “noise” and urge the Bears to focus on “being relevant this past October.” Since then, Lightfoot has considered the possibility of building a costly dome over Soldier Field and deployed a task force to investigate the museum campus on which the stadium is located.
Earlier this month, the mayor’s handpicked group said Lightfoot should consider renaming Soldier Field to potentially raise hundreds of millions of dollars and “investigate the feasibility” of enclosing the stadium with a dome or roof.
[ The Arlington Heights Bears? Here’s what to know about the team’s possible move from Chicago’s Soldier Field. ]
The task force also recommended converting Solidarity Drive into a year-round plaza, creating educational programs for children, and adding large-scale art to rejuvenate the campus. The report also recommended improving CTA service and reducing traffic in the area. Many of the report’s ideas are likely to face financial or political challenges while officials wait for the bears to make a decision and chart their next steps.
The task force also recommended converting Solidarity Drive into a year-round plaza, creating educational programs for children, and adding large-scale art to rejuvenate the campus. The report also recommended improving CTA service and reducing traffic in the area. Many of the report’s ideas are likely to face financial or political challenges while officials wait for the bears to make a decision and chart their next steps.
Richard Price, chairman and CEO of Mesirow Financial, who led the working group, addressed the need for improvements in transportation on Monday, saying: “We all know that getting here and getting around is a challenge. That has to be part of the solution.”
The Bears have played at Soldier Field since moving from Wrigley Field in 1971. They played the 2002 season at Champaign’s Memorial Stadium while Soldier Field underwent a $690 million renovation. The stadium, owned by the Chicago Park District, seats 61,500 fans, the smallest capacity in the NFL. It can be difficult to get to and is dated compared to newer football stadiums.
afternoon meeting
Daily
The Chicago Tribune editors’ top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon.
The Bears signed a purchase agreement for Arlington International Racecourse last fall, which will close later this year at the earliest. While it’s not a done deal, the Bears’ interest in Arlington Heights sparked a heated debate over whether Chicago should attempt to keep the team, and at what cost. One benefit of moving to Arlington Heights for the Bears is that they could develop the 326-acre property surrounding the stadium for shopping, dining and entertainment, an option the team at Soldier Field would not have.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox on weekday afternoons.
The Soldier Field renovation, completed in 2003, placed a saucer-like structure of glass and steel atop the limestone and colonnades of the original 1924 World War I Veterans Memorial Millions of dollars in debt and interest will be paid off in 2032.
As she tries to determine if it’s possible to keep the team in Chicago, the mayor must also prepare for a post-Bears future on the lakefront so she can come up with a forward-looking plan to try to make up for the loss of revenue and civic standing to cover when they leave the Bears, which today’s press conference explains.
Lightfoot was joined at Monday’s press conference by Bob Dunn, a developer who has pushed One Central, a multi-billion dollar development between McCormick Place and the Field Museum, which is also a transportation hub.
The mayor was previously cool about the project, which requires various permits.
Stop by for more details on this groundbreaking story.