McDonald’s Park, where the Chicago Fire FC will begin playing their home matches in 2028, is going vertical at The 78 in the South Loop. Unsurprisingly, that three-dimensional progress is sprouting on the west side of the stadium, where the west tower crane has been installed and is putting the heavy stuff in its place.
As for the east crane, it had not been planted yet as of our visit on the 26 of this month, but there are truckloads of unmistakable yellow Liebherr parts lined up on the southeast corner of the construction site, waiting to be set in place. A permit for it was issued by the city on June 5, so it can be erected as soon as the team from Pepper Construction, GMA Construction, and A.L.L. Construction are good and ready for it. Until then, the east half of the site is a sea of piles jutting up from the ground.
When we last updated construction progress on June 4, the west tower crane had just been erected. The morning that update was published, we saw that the superstructure permit had come through the previous day, on June 3. A couple more of big permits are still pending in the Chicago Data Portal. The full permit for the stadium hit the portal on July 10, and on June 5, an “enclosure only” permit showed up. That’s a new one to me, so I’ll let you read the exact verbiage for yourself:
Enclosure only permit for a 4-story stadium with no basement on piles. No MEP work. Piles only permit under 101075594. Shallow foundations permit under 101079463. Superstructure under 101080382.
All of the stadium’s permits thus far have specified that there will not be a basement level.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Liebherr tower crane parts raring to get in the game. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Piles on the east side of the stadium site. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
A Liebherr crane that *has* been erected, at 2305 South State, peeking through the towers at Hilliard Homes. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
From the Roosevelt Orange/Green Line platform. Photo by Daniel Schell
Stand by for further updates of our first major stadium build in quite some time. This is going to be fun to watch. Interested in following progress on your own? Roosevelt Road offers a stellar elevated viewing platform. And you don’t need a ticket.
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Hey Bears, you watching this!
you snooze you lose, this is a clear sign of poor leadership at the bears org and the sox, the disfunction is like a direct reflection of the city wherein old established institutions are paralyzed by the systems they themselves created and can’t seem to unravel. The clear winner and perhaps a sign of change on the horizon is the Chicago Fire FC, a true breath of fresh air.
The magic of paying for something yourself!
Even the Blackhawks are cashing in on this process. The Cubs did it too, but their recent hostility to the community has been souring… If only the Bears could learn what it means to be a leader.
McDonald’s park 🙄🙄🙄 any name but that please.
you think it’s a Kroc?