Stadium in a Park
The Lakefront Redevelopment Project
The former South Park Commission (the Commission merged with 22 other park systems to establish the Chicago Park District in 1934) hired Chicago architects Holibird and Roche in 1919 to design a stadium that would serve as a showcase “for events and a playground for the people.” On October 9, 1924, the Grant Park Municipal Stadium premiered and one year later, at the request of the Chicago Gold Star Mothers, the stadium was renamed Soldier Field.
What’s in store for Soldier Field? Nearly 80 years later, the Lakefront Redevelopment Plan ensures that Soldier Field will continue on the tradition as a public playground. By Fall 2003, the Lakefront Redevelopment Plan will con Soldier Field will be converted from a stadium in a parking lot into a stadium in a park.
SOLDIER FIELD HISTORY
1919 - Plans for the stadium began in 1919, when Holibird and Roche won an architectural competition to build the stadium as a memorial to American soldiers who died in wars. (Soldier Field)
1922 – 1928 - The stadium was constructed by the South Park Commission (which later merged with other park commissions to become the Chicago Park District in 1934.) Soldier Field is a monument to the times and great sports places typical of the “Golden Age of Sports” and is one of few such stadiums still standing. Soldier Field was built in three stages between 1922 and 1939 at a total cost $13 million. (Soldier Field)
Soldier Field, when completed, contained 74,280 permanent bleacher seats made of fir planking. An additional 30,000 spectator temporary bleacher seats could be placed along the interior of the field, upper promenades and on the large open terrace beyond the north end zone.
October 9, 1924 – The official opening day – which coincided with the 53rd anniversary of the Chicago Fire—of the Municipal Grant Park Stadium. Within a year it was renamed Soldier Field and held 45,000 seats. (Soldier Field)
The first event held in Soldier Field was a police met featuring 1,000 police athletes and reportedly drew 90,000 spectators. Crowds in excess of 1000,000 became commonplace in the years that followed, marked by several memorable sporting events. (Soldier Field)
November 22, 1924 – First football game held at the Municipal Grant Park Stadium was Notre Dame (13) v. Northwestern (6). (Soldier Field)
November 11, 1925 – The Municipal Grant Park Stadium is officially renamed
Soldier Field at the urging of Chicago’s Golf Star Mothers. (Soldier Field)
November 27, 1926 – Soldier Field was officially dedicated in front of a crowd of 110,000 during the Army v. Navy game. The game ended in a 21-21 tie. (Sun Times, 1/18/02)
September 23, 1927 - The epic Jack Dempsey/Gene Tunney heavyweight rematch featuring the controversial long count with 104,000 watching. (Soldier Field) Dempsey knocked down Tunney and Dempsey went to the wrong corner. The referee directed him to the right corner, and five seconds passed before he started counting out Tunney. Tunney, the champ, got up at nine, which should have been 14, and went on to beat Dempsey. (Sun Times, 1/18/02)
1927 – The largest crowd to watch collegiate football was 123,00 to see Notre Dame take on Southern California. (Soldier Field)
1937 – The largest crowd to watch a high school football game took place at Soldier Field with an estimated 115,000 watching the Austin v. Leo High School Prep Bowl football games. (Soldier Field)
1944 - 150,000 spectators attended a wartime visit by President Franklin Roosevelt. (Soldier Field)
1948 – Chicago Park District engineers won an award at the 1948 International Lighting Expo for their design of a stadium lighting system featuring 5,000 watt flood lights that could be arranged in pre-set patterns by a three man crew.
1954 – 260,00 came to Soldier Field for a Catholic celebration. (CPD, Special Collections)
1962 - 116,000 turned out to hear evangelist Billy Graham. (Soldier Field)
September 19, 1971 - The Chicago Bears began using the facility as a regular season home in and capacity was cut to 57,000 to bring season ticket holders closer to the field. (Soldier Field) Chicago defeats the Pittsburgh Steelers 17-15 before capacity crowd of 55,701 in the Bears’ first game since moving from Wrigley. (ChicagoBears.com)
1978 – With the Chicago Bears, the Chicago Park District began to reconstruct the aging stadium with lights, playing surface, locker rooms, and rebuilding the stadiums’ plank-board style seating with chair back and armrests.
1981 – With renovations complete, Soldier Field could welcome 66,950 visitors.
September 1988 – Soldier Field converts turf from AstroTurf to Kentucky Bluegrass. (Jimmy Duggan, Chicago Park District employee.)
1994 – Soldier Field hosts the opening ceremonies of the 1994 World Cup soccer play, the first time the competition will by played on American shores. (Soldier Field)
Interesting facts about Soldier Field
Soldier Field has hosted rock concerts, thrill shows, rodeos, tractor and truck pulls, circuses, fireworks displays, stock car races, sunrise services, marching band concerts, open-air operas, skiing and toboggan events including a ski jump event from a 13-story platform.
The stadium’s underpinnings consist of 10,000 giant wood piling foundations driven an average depth of six stories through landfill to bedrock.
Park District engineers won a national award at the 1948 International Lighting Expo for their design of a stadium lighting system featuring 5,000-watt floodlights that could be arranged in pre-set patterns by a three-man crew.
It hosted the first boxing event that drew a gate of over $2.5 million (Dempsey-Tunney, 1927), the first ski meet held in a stadium, and the all-time largest football crowd (123,000). The largest crowd for any event in Soldier Field was 260,000 on Sept. 8, 1954, for the religious Marian Year Tribute. (ChicagoBears.com)
Three of the NFL's ten-biggest single-game attendance totals have occurred at games involving the Chicago Bears, two at Soldier Field. (ChicagoBears.com)
Concerts that have played at Soldier Field: (Joanne Keller, CPD employee since 1989)
July 31, 1987 - Madonna
July 12, 1994 – Pink Floyd – 58, 941
July 23, 1994 – Grateful Dead – 59, 481
July 24, 1994 - Grateful Dead 52, 221
July 11, 1994 - Rolling Stones 50, 116
July 12, 1994 - Rolling Stones - 38, 074
July 8, 1995 - Grateful Dead – 57,091
July 9, 1995 - Grateful Dead 56,351
July 11, 1995 - Pearl Jam 47,438
June 27, 1997 – U2 – 47,165
June 28, 1997- U2 - 45,012
June 29, 1997 – U2 – 23,986
Sept 23, 1997 – Rolling Stones – 52,035
Sept 25, 1997 – Rolling Stones– 52,070
June 29, 2000– Dave Matthews - 55,565
June 30, 2000 – Dave Matthews 55,183
June 16, 2001- N’Sync 43,373
June 17, 2001 – N’Sync 37,337
July 6, 2001 Dave Matthews 48, 923
July 7, 2001 Dave Matthews 51,729
The Lakefront Redevelopment Project
Questions and Answers
| Q: You’re calling this a lakefront improvement project, but all I’ve ever heard about is a new stadium for the Bears. What other improvements are going to be made? |
| This project will create approximately 17 acres of additional parkland that will become the premier lakefront recreation venue in Chicago. This year-round public use area will include a terraced park, a winter garden, a sledding hill and other hard-surfaced sports areas. A new museum visitors’ center will provide an excellent space for museum displays and schedules, while new parking facilities, bus drop-offs and roads will improve access to the museum campus. The new stadium also would attract additional concerts, cultural events and convocations as well as provide a new home for professional soccer. |
| Q: Anything new and big usually means the taxpayers wind up paying for it, like the new stadiums in Seattle and Cincinnati. How much of a new stadium will the taxpayers of Illinois actually pay for? |
| None of it. The lakefront improvement plan will be funded partly by redirecting hotel/motel tax revenue, which is paid mostly by visitors, and the Chicago Bears themselves, who are putting up $200 million, the largest single contribution ever made by an NFL team for a publicly owned stadium. |
| Q: Shouldn’t this additional revenue from the hotel/motel tax be put to something more pressing, like public school funding? |
| Funds collected through the hotel/motel tax are specifically dedicated to help fund new tourism projects, such as the plan to improve Chicago’s lakefront. Our schools are funded from allocations drawn from general state taxes such as property taxes, as well as taxes levied on the Illinois gaming industry. |
| Q: This plan sounds like it only benefits the Bears and the city of Chicago. What about downstate residents? |
| This effort benefits all Illinois children and families because an improved lakefront and a new stadium generate more tourism, which generates more money for state projects. More tourism dollars mean more money available for critical programs and less dependency on your tax dollars. |
| Q: A football stadium doesn’t add to the beauty of our lakefront. Why don’t they build it somewhere else? |
| Sites for a new stadium in Chicago or surrounding suburbs have been considered for 25 years. None has measured up to the present Soldier Field site with respect to location, access and rich history. This dramatic new presentation of a building that has identified Chicago’s lakefront for three-quarters of a century will enrich the lakefront, not detract from it. |
| Q: What’s going to be so special about a new stadium? |
| A new stadium would be a state-of-the-art multiple-use venue that would attract new civic, cultural, religious and education gatherings. Soldier Field is the oldest stadium currently in use by an NFL team, by more than 30 years, and its age is showing. The new stadium would have ample restrooms, improved seating, better sightlines, an enlarged concourse, two huge 96-foot-by-23-foot videoboards, improved concessions, greatly expanded parking and other amenities. |
| Q: But won’t a modern-look stadium diminish Soldier Field as a national historic landmark? |
| The architectural team has taken great pride in preserving the historic nature of this jewel along the lakefront. The classic colonnades will remain intact as a lasting monument to Soldier Field’s glorious past, and a 250-foot granite-wall sculpture will serve as a memorial to the men and women who served in the armed forces. Under the unique design, spectators will be able to walk among the colonnades and the horseshoe promenade with its unmatched views of the lake, new parkland and Chicago’s skyline, a purpose that was designed into the original stadium but one which was lost over time. |
| Q: Will I still be able to visit the rest of the Museum campus during construction? |
| The Bears are keenly aware that their lakefront partners-the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium-will be conducting regular business during construction. The Bears have pledged to keep the area accessible for Museum campus visitors during construction and believe that the temporary inconvenience will be well worth the final result of more overall parking and easier access to the Museum campus. |
| Q: What’s the deal with Permanent Seat Licenses? |
| Permanent Seat Licenses, or PSL’s, allow season ticket holders to guarantee that they always will have the right to buy season tickets. The proceeds, usually a one-time payment, could be used as part of the funding mechanism. However, to say that the Bears will require all season ticket holders to purchase PSL’s in a new stadium is inaccurate. The Bears are considering whether the use of PSL’s is practical and the best method to achieve part of the funding. |
| Q: Does a new stadium mean an increase in ticket prices? |
| The Bears will determine the price of tickets after weighing many factors, including ticket prices charged by their competitors in the NFL, prices charged by other local professional sports teams and other Chicago-area entertainment venues. |
The Public Benefits of the Lakefront Redevelopment Project
Acres of New Lakefront Parkland
The project will create approximately 17 acres of additional waterfront parkland for public enjoyment. This green space will be programmed for year-round public uses such as a sledding hill, winter garden, a terraced park, an area for outdoor museum exhibits and other features. A playground for hard-surface sports would be built on surface parking lots near McCormick Place. The additional recreation space for Chicago and its visitors will result in the largest lakefront play/education neighborhood in Chicago.
Museum Campus’ Entrance
The project includes improvements to the McFetridge and Lake Shore Drive intersection, which will improve vehicular and pedestrian access for museum, park and event patrons. McFetridge Drive will be converted to a pedestrian plaza immediately in front of the Field Museum on event days. This large plaza will connect the Museum Campus to the new north gateway to the new stadium, bisecting the new garage. Flanking the west side of the gateway is a granite wall, 250 feet in length. Covered in a curtain of water, this wall will serve as a memorial sculpture to the men and women who served in the armed forces. In addition, a new more easily accessible Lakeshore Drive entrance at 18th Street will lead visitors through a beautiful tree lined parkway to the Museum Campus and offer one of the best views of Chicago’s skyline and lakefront.
Bus Drop-off/Staging Areas
An improved bus staging area for loading and unloading has been carefully designed, and numerous benefits accrue to the Museum Campus such as:
• Faster exit times for bus traffic
• Greater separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic
• Dedicated taxi/limousine queue
• Increased bus staging area
• Easy access to 2,500 car parking garage
• More flexibility for routing of traffic during special events
• Increased public safety, particularly for small children and school groups
Greatly Expanded Public Parking
The year-round parking facility will create 2,500 new underground parking spaces immediately adjacent to the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium, and 3,100 outdoor spaces between the stadium and McCormick Place, greatly relieving congestion for those visiting the lakefront corridor, especially The Museum Campus and McCormick Place.
A New Museum Visitors Center
A new visitors’ center, conveniently located at the 2,500 car garage exit area will be funded by the project, and will provide an excellent space for museum displays, special event postings and ticket sales.
A Multi-use Lakefront Wonder
Above and beyond the Bears games, the new stadium will host an increasing number of athletic events, prime concerts, and large civic, cultural and educational gatherings. The unique design will allow for easy stage setup and take down, along with a field that can accommodate both professional and international soccer events.
Year Round Potential Uses
Development opportunities exist, which could include a permanent retail shop, Hall of Fame, restaurant and banquet room.
Construction Parking
An accelerated construction schedule (to be completed in 20 months) will be funded by the project and serve to minimize disruption to the Museum Campus. A minimum of 2,500 on-campus spaces will be maintained for museum use throughout the construction period.
The new stadium Links Chicago’s Signature Landmark to its World-class Reputation
The colonnades of Soldier Field, symbols of both civic pride and respect for our armed services, will be preserved, restoring and maintaining the historic nature of the facility. The investment in Lakefront FIRST honors our past and our future. Soldier Field is a national icon all of Illinois can be proud of, now and into the new millennium.
Why invest over $500 million in improvements around Soldier Field?
The lakefront jewel that extends from Navy Pier to McCormick Place is one of Illinois’ true treasures, offering daily benefits to residents and visitors. It is also one of Chicago’s signature sights, familiar to people around the world.
Chicago’s stature as a world-class city is inextricably tied to the beauty, quality and best use of its lakefront. The entire Navy Pier to McCormick Place corridor has been completely revitalized, with the exception of Soldier Field, our historic landmark.
Lakefront FIRST would create a multi-purpose public asset that will further differentiate Chicago and its lakefront from every city in the world.
• Total project costs $606 million: $419.3 million estimated for the stadium, $78.8 million for the underground North parking structure; $107.8 million for the Waldron Garage and South park lot and other park related infrastructure such as outside parking facilities, 17 acres of additional parkland, roadway improvements, site work, utilities, storm water drainage, miscellaneous infrastructure, and other costs.
• Funding of the project will be in the form of an Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA) bond issue consisting of $387 million of usable bond proceeds. Existing tourist (hotel/motel) taxes will be utilized along with a significant $200 million private contribution from the Chicago Bears.
• The Bears contribution will consist of a $100 million National Football League (NFL) loan, a bank loan and Permanent Seat Licenses (PSL’s) sold for a portion of the stadium.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
• A lost opportunity to revitalize Soldier Field and its city-essential surroundings using existing state agency, Chicago Bears and NFL funding sources
• The possible functional loss or further degradation of Soldier Field, a treasured Chicago and national landmark.
• A lost opportunity to pump $200 million in private funds into the Chicago economy, the creation of 2000 new local jobs during the two year construction period and additional jobs during operations.
• The continued use of Soldier Field, which in its current configuration, cannot meet modern ADA and code standards and is inefficient to operate.
• The diminishing of Chicago’s identity as a can-do city with world-class vision.
Keeping Pace with Other Cities
Thirteen new stadia, which have opened since 1998, or are scheduled to open by 2003:
Baltimore, Tampa, Cleveland, Nashville, Cincinnati, Denver, Boston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, Green Bay.
Five stadia that are all less than seven years old:
Washington, Charlotte, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Atlanta
Seven stadia which have undergone major renovations in the 1990’s:
Oakland, San Diego, Dallas, Buffalo, New Orleans, New York, Indianapolis
These stadia represent 80 percent of all NFL markets. Soldier Field is at least 30 years older than the next oldest NFL stadium.
