Chicago’s new stadium design for the Bears at Soldier Field originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The city of Chicago proposed three options for renovating Soldier Field on Monday.
Option one is building a dome, option two is building the stadium to become “dome ready” and option three is to make the stadium into a multi-purpose stadium — likely for major soccer use and improved hospitality for concerts and other events.
In terms of building the stadium centered around the Bears staying, here is what the renovations would look include:
According to the Mayor’s office, improvements would include:
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Expanding seating from 61,500 seats up to 70,000 total seats including additional fan activation areas
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Increasing the number of traditional suites from 133 to 140
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Adding six new major club and experiential areas
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Quadrupling the food and beverage square footage from 50,000 square feet to 200,000 square feet
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Adding secondary club and activation areas to as many as 20.
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Creating more flexible event space and multi-purpose venues including up to four venues with capacity ranging from 5,000 to 60,000 or more
The renovations would cost anywhere from $900 million to $2.2 billion, depending on who the main anchor of the stadium will be. If the anchor were the Bears, the cost would likely be closer to the mark of $2.2 billion.
In terms of who or what would finance the stadium’s renovations, Lightfoot refused to specify without current knowledge of who the mainstay of the stadium will be. There is no specific number on how much the city would ask of the Bears’ organization.
The city is not opposed to making the stadium a taxpayer issue either.
The Bears have shot down all proposals coming from the city thus far as they are committed to the agreement they reached to purchase the land in Arlington Park.
In a statement from the team reported by the Daily Herald, “The only potential project the Chicago Bears are exploring for a new stadium development is Arlington Park,” according to a statement from a team spokesman via the article. “As part of our mutual agreement with the seller of that property, we are not pursuing alternative stadium deals or sites, including renovations to Soldier Field, while we are under contract.”
Despite the Bears’ rejections of the proposals, Lightfoot is adamant they should consider the city’s plan, saying they would be “foolish” not to.
The plan is centered around creating a better fan and gameday experience for fans at the Lakefront destination while maintaining the economic benefits the stadium brings to downtown Chicago and the businesses around it.
“Not surprisingly, we are doing what we believe is making a compelling case for the Chicago Bears to stay in Chicago. They want a tier one stadium environment to maximize revenues, and we agree that we are going to keep making the case to the Bears, the NFL and public that a revitalized Soldier Field makes the most economic sense for that storied franchise,” Lightfoot said during an address Monday.
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