Initial details have been revealed for the massive redevelopment of Museum Campus for the new Chicago Bears stadium near downtown. The new structure will replace the existing parking deck to the south of Soldier Field, with the plans being revealed the day before the NFL draft. The proposal is being led by the team itself along with the City of Chicago, with Kansas City-based Manica Architecture working on its design.
Rendering of Arlington Heights proposal by Hart Howerton Architects
Site plan of Arlington Heights proposal by Hart Howerton Architects
The proposal comes after a multi-year battle in which The Bears negotiated with previous mayor Lori Lightfoot as well as the city of Arlington Heights, spending millions to buy the famed race track and demolish its structures. Now the team, which is the fifth most valuable in the league with a worth of around $5.8 billion and low levels of debt, is proposing a new lakefront stadium partially paid by the city’s hotel tax revenue.
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
The overall development, which includes the redevelopment of Soldier Field and the surrounding areas, comes with a price tag of roughly $4.7 billion of which $3.2 billion is just for the stadium. The new domed structure will replace the Waldron Parking deck with a larger footprint, being able to seat around 65,000 guests for a game. Large glass windows on the northern end will frame the skyline beyond.
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
The team hopes to host a superbowl, though they highly favor warm cities, and other major events year-round to supplement their roughly 8-13 games a year. The overall development will be built in three phases including the stadium, preservation of the Soldier Field colonnade with 14 acres of parkland added within it, a new pedestrian bridge between the park and the Field Museum, multiple retail buildings with restrooms and a sports history museum.
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
Major infrastructure projects will also be needed including improved ramps and interchanges at 18th Street, a new parking deck on top of the existing lots, new overpass, exits, and ramps for DuSable Lake Shore Drive, expanded bus depot, and other undisclosed transportation needs. These, along with the park and retail buildings will be a majority of the publicly funded aspects, with The Bears contributing over $2 billion towards the stadium.
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
Various questions were asked during the press conference yesterday, including if the city was ready to fight extensive legal battles about the usage of lakefront property which cost the city the Lucas Museum. Many other questions focused on defining the tax money. Mayor Johnson clarified no tax hikes will arise from the project, though the city still owes for the last round of renovations to Soldier Field.
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
The development will now need to go in front of the state, with Governor Pritzker casting doubt on the project and its financing which heavily relies on state and city money. The team expressed that they hope to clear the necessary hurdles this spring and break ground by next summer, with every year of delay increasing the price by roughly $200 million. If things go to plan, the stadium will be complete by the Summer of 2028.
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
Rendering of new Bears stadium by Manica Architecure
While construction happens, which will create roughly 43,000 temporary regional jobs, the team will continue to play at Soldier Field which will be demolished after. No news was shared on whether the Chicago Fire FC will also transfer to the new facility. A website for the stadium plans can be found here.
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Looks great, I’m all for it, with one *strong* caveat. Why does an NFL team need the state of Illinois/Chicago public to pay for half of a $4.6 billion dollar palace? The NFL is a private entity that is part of one of the most financially lucrative sports leagues in the world right now. Maybe the owners of the Bears should take a haircut on how much profit they take from high ticket pricing and exorbitant pricing on everything at the stadium today.
The state could spend that $2.3 billion making the CTA the wonder of the world, or ending homelessness across the state. And study after study does not back up their claims of net economic benefit to the city. Stadiums are financial losers in all but the most exceptional case.
Raise the private money needed to build and then you’ve got my full vote. Same goes for the White Sox.
Amen to that Jim
Thanks Jim. Well said.
Sure this stadium is a waste of taxpayer dollars. But your comparison projects are way off. $2 Billion funds the CTA for 12 months or builds a mile of tracks. $2 Billion for the homeless would disappear faster than you can say “one term mayor”.
It’s still greater that spending $0 on it. $2 billion would close the CTA budget gap of $700 million AND do many other good things. Stadiums are a net financial drain on cities when publicly financed. Let’s privately finance this one and spend the $2 billion on the starving public needs of Chicago.
Why don’t the Bears go raise financing from the many billionaires in the city? The Bears are the 4th most valuable NFL team apparently, I’m sure a bunch of rich people would love to own some shares of the Bears.
It’s really beautiful, which draws people there. And people will spend money. Yes, we will have to pax for it, that’s how America works. I only hope this is the baseline and it’s only improved from here. Don’t dial back or scale back because this will be breathtaking.
I’m just happy to see those colonnades being given a proper platform to shine again. Landscaping should be more dense tho.
Chicago parks always have too many open lawns with a paltry amount of trees nearby. Should be more like The Ramble in Central Park, should have rose gardens, should have sunken gardens, should have a centerpiece fountain. Really go all in on the landscaping.
Love this idea. Thanks for commenting
Terrible layout, where is the parking lot for the tailgaters???? Friends of the Park will kill it. Springfield will not put a penny towards it. And BJ will have another failure on his hands. Arlington Heights has to be feeling pretty good right now.
GET BENT you car-a-holic 😂
Your car obsession is pathetic.
Other reports say 77,000 seats .
Hey George, its hard capacity is around 65,000 for football, with additional lounges and such allowing it to reach the 70k needed for a Super Bowl. the 77k number was given during the press conference for basketball, so that would involve filling most of the floor to reach a max capacity.
Design and concept wise — Amazing! Beautiful!! Compelling!!! An appropriate use of the lakefront — No! No!! No!! The parking lot the new stadium replaces could be turned back into parkland for less than $1 billion in public funds. The remaining parking structure will have to be enlarged. What are the other those other new (private? public?) buildings to east of the “reimaginged” Solider Field? Where will this new hotel be built? As a final reminder, without the demolition of most of Solider Field, there is no meaningful increase of public space period.
I don’t understand why the stadium proposal isn’t better connected with the Metra 18th Street Station. Seems like a no Brainer. With the yard there it would be easy to run rush-hour or shuttle trains to nearby parking facilities and stations. Why isn’t the station integrated into the stadium??? The Current one is so strange and doesn’t make sense at all, seems like a missed opportunity. Also why does the 2nd largest city in America need to chip in Money for a highly lucrative, consistent profit generator like the Bears? If they can’t pay the full cost or at least 90% of it why don’t they sell the team to someone who can?
Impressive proposal, build it asap. I have no issue with public-private joint financing of sports facilities – they are an investment and asset for both the cities and team ownership. They are the CHICAGO Bears, not the HALAS FAMILY Bears, and the city benefits from the exposure.
This monstrous building would have Montgomery Ward spinning in his grave. The only good thing about this proposal is the removal of the current Soldier Field.
This thing should be built on the south bank of the river and used by the White Sox and the Bears. Why does it need to be on the Lakefront?
Ridiculously out of scale and not a site specific design response. Architecturally, it is not innovative or inspiring. and looks rather generic. Seems like this stadium design was developed with the idea that it could also be plopped onto the Arlington Heights property, for which a master plan has been developed. Or, perhaps it was the design already developed for Arlington Heights and now wedged along the lakefront? Looks interchangeable.
I have no problem with a lakefront stadium, just make it a world class design.