Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces Soldier Field renovation plans as city tries to keep Chicago Bears

CHICAGO (WLS) — Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared three renovation choices to Soldier Subject as the town carries on hoping to persuade the Bears to remain at the lakefront stadium.

“This is an outstanding asset, been right here for pretty much 100 a long time,” Lightfoot reported. “One particular way or another, we have to make investments in Soldier Discipline.”

The 3 proposals consist of a domed option, an open-aired stadium with the alternative of including a dome at a later day and an option to modify the stadium to greater match soccer competitions although strengthening lodging for concert events and other activities.

Lightfoot said that all 3 proposals will maintain Soldier Industry as an financial engine for the city no matter of the Bears’ choice.

“Any of these renovations will allow for Soldier Area to keep its purpose as an economic engine for Chicago for many years to arrive,” Lightfoot mentioned in a press release.

19 a long time in the past, when Soldier Discipline underwent its final important renovation, previous Mayor Richard Daley rejected the strategy of introducing a dome to the stadium.

Now, the renovation expenses are estimated among $900 million to $2.2 billion.

“It truly is absolutely extra high-priced to do it this way than to have performed it this way than aspect of the authentic (2003 renovation),” claimed Jim Pawlikowski, Director of Rex Engineering.

Even although the value tag is larger now than it would have been 19 several years back, Lightfoot said the charges of the renovations would be considerably more cost-effective than making a new stadium from scratch.

Some of the features which would be renovated include: increasing seating to 70,000 seats, an increase in luxurious suites, quadrupling the meals and beverage footprint and increasing the multi-objective space obtainable.

Soldier Field is at this time the smallest potential stadium in the NFL with 61,500 seats.

The renovation options come as the Chicago Bears contemplate moving from Soldier Field to the internet site of the previous Arlington Racecourse.

In a statement, the Bears stated “The only opportunity challenge the Chicago Bears are discovering for a new stadium advancement is Arlington Park. As section of our mutual settlement with the vendor of that house, we are not pursuing choice stadium specials or websites, including renovations to Soldier Area.”

The Bears are wanting to establish a new slicing-edge location in Arlington Heights which could raise the team’s revenues in accordance to some sports activities advertising and marketing authorities.

Mayor Lightfoot, nevertheless, is hoping to convince the crew to keep in the city.

“Politically, it can be easy to understand what (Lightfoot’s) carrying out, but it is not likely to make any change in the conclude,” explained Marc Ganis, Taking care of Director of Sportscorp Ltd.

The mayor previously fashioned a committee to glance at approaches to convey extra folks to the lakefront and Museum Campus.

Whole statement from Close friends of the Parks

“While we participated on the mayor’s doing the job team to reimagine the museum campus, Buddies of the Parks is just seeing the design proposals and hearing about supposedly nicely-vetted engineering specs for a opportunity dome on Soldier Subject. We formerly had allow the mayor’s place of work know that we could not appear out in assistance of a dome, only in guidance of a feasibility research. Our posture continues to be the exact as it did upon the release of the “Exactly where Worlds Satisfy” report: we expect that a actual analyze of the feasibility of a dome on Soldier Industry will lead to the summary that it is not possible, no matter whether since of cost, public pushback for a wide variety of reasons, and/or authorized limitations to developing on the lakefront.”