Will Chicago Bears get a roof for Soldier Field?

A panel appointed by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot beneficial the town discover enclosing Soldier Field, a part of an effort to persuade the NFL’s Chicago Bears to stay of their lakefront house relatively than go away for the suburbs.

The panel additionally beneficial increasing capability of the stadium with the fewest seats within the NFL in addition to putting in artificial turf and promoting naming rights. Adding a roof or a dome may lure Super Bowls and Final Fours in addition to extra concert events.

“Although enclosing Soldier Field would incur vital funding, additional evaluation is required to totally perceive the particular prices, the potential direct and oblique financial impacts, and the total vary of potential funding sources out there to find out choices which might be respectful to Chicago taxpayers,” the panel stated.

The group’s work is a part of a larger proposal to rework a stretch of land that additionally consists of the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium and McCormick Place lakefront constructing. It consists of improved transportation and making the realm extra bike pleasant.

The suggestions for Soldier Field is also seen as an try by Lightfoot to deflect blame if the Bears go away.

The group signed a buy settlement final 12 months for a 326-acre web site in suburban Arlington Heights, Ill., about 30 miles northwest of Soldier Field, that might be the location of a future stadium. President Ted Phillips has stated that deal possible gained’t shut till early 2023, at which level the group will determine whether or not it’s “financially possible to attempt to develop it additional.”

The Bears’ lease at Soldier Field — their house since 1971 — runs via 2033. The stadium owned by the Chicago Park District underwent a $690 million transformation in 2002 that pressured the group to play house video games on the University of Illinois in Champaign and in the end led to the lack of its National Historic Landmark designation.

The inside was demolished, changed by a flying saucer-like, glass-dominated construction cantilevered over the well-known Greek and Romanesque colonnades. The conflict of types drew widespread criticism, and the renovation diminished seating for Bears video games to 61,500, lowest within the NFL.

Reporting by Associated Press