CHICAGO | Da Bears | New Domed Lakefront Stadium Proposal

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

It's not just "moving the stadium."

I'm seeing a lot of new buildings, including the hotel and adapting the Soldier Field footprint beneath the colonnade into a massive structure (the green space is actually a green roof).

Unless all of those buildings are owned by the city, this will be pretty controversial. Even then, I can't see FotP going for it.

It' possible those buildings exist explicitly to bargain with FotP. They can easily be dropped from the plan and everyone wins (lower costs for city, FotP bargained more open space, Bears get their stadium). Warren also mentioned the city potentially owning the hotel piece.

The structure under the old field is all the parking.

[Halsted & Villagio]

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

The stadium is fine, nothing super unique or anything, but do we really want some even more expensive monument like what LA built? I'm perfectly fine with the stadium being average but the surrounding environment being spectacular, which is what this plan appears to be doing.

Compare this to LA....

I agree with this. LA's stadium was notorious for massive cost overruns. Once you have seen it two or three times, without much of anything around the stadium itself having been transformed, it gets harder and harder to justify all of that extra cost.

On the other hand, the stadium the Bears will be looking to build appears to have an eye on the budget - especially considering that the whole space around the stadium is being transformed - another massive cost - but actually the most exciting part about this project to me. As I mentioned before - I get Millennium Park 2.0 vibes when I think about what this could be.

As for the stadium itself, I think it is sharp (not groundbreaking), but I also think it has be chance to be one of those stadiums that actually look even better once built -- especially with the translucent roof, giant glass window, the outdoor dining built into the stadium itself, etc... and all of that bouncing off the lakefront. Could be fricking amazing!

[Via Chicago]

Before the event started, though, Gov. J.B. Pritzker poured cold water on the plan. When questioned at an unrelated event this morning, Pritzker said "I remain skeptical" about using taxpayer funds to build stadiums for professional teams. "I'm not sure this is among the highest priorities for the state."

Pritzker noted that voters in Kansas City recently rejected a public stadium subsidy for the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs. "I'm a Bears fan. But before I became governor, I was a businessman and tried to be a good steward of public money. . . .I wonder if (the Bears' ask) is a good deal for taxpayers."

Amen

[r18tdi]

I like the overall plan and wouldn't be super offended they received some tax breaks to build it.

But if the Bears want a hotel next to the stadium, fucking work with Bob Dunn and built it over the train tracks. We don't need a Rickettsville east of LSD.

[Via Chicago]

3 billion dollars plus cost over runs

8 games a year

Make it make sense

[aaron38]

At this point I'd rather just have the old Soldier Field back.

[Tombstoner]

From watching the video, I like the stadium and lots of aspects of the exterior facilities, but I ain't crazy about the huge swaths of flat greenspace where people can "do stuff." An outdoor football field makes some sense for those occasions when you don't have a game big enough to activate the stadium (e.g., local college or high school championship games) but you want the allure of the stadium nearby, (though hard to see where fan seating would be), but baseball fields? Soccer fields? Ice rinks? Christkindlmarkt? Seems it would cannibalize the usage of other facilities and spaces. AND (more importantly to me) all this generic field space repeats the problem we find in huge chunks of Grant Park: completely unimaginative landscaping with little in the way of destination/focal spots (like amphitheaters, fountains, etc.). Not really creating many thoughtful "synergies" with Museum Campus as far as I can see.
Also, the video shows an interior of the stadium as being a place for basketball, soccer, tennis--again, seems to be all things to everyone that will chip away at other facilities' utility. It would be good to keep the Bears downtown and this is a creative proposal but I think the space between the stadium and Museum Campus could use a lot more thought.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by Halsted & Villagio

Thou dost protest too much my friend. You are showing obvious bias with your post. The project may be many things but “uninspired” is not one of them. The whole space has been literally transformed. I mean, from soup to nuts save the historical colonnades, it is a brand new space. By all objective standards, that takes “inspiration”.

The whole thing is spectacular, and a major boon to the city of Chicago and its citizens. This reminds of millennium park 2.0 — vast, imaginative, multi-functional - a place where all of Chicagoland and visitors alike can gather and enjoy the city.

And yes… it should satisfy the Friends of the Parkers who love to bitch and moan about anything that slightly resembles “progress”. This plan essentially keeps everything that is currently there, in place, and just reconfigures it. The stadium moved, with the green space simply being shifted and activated like never before.

What bias would I have? I am not a stakeholder of any kind. My priority when judging it is whether it provides a good public benefit, is a pleasing design, and a good value proposition. The last of those qualifiers is an unmitigated no.

Even if we assume that tearing down the current Soldier Field and greening over the space is the best course of action (I think scaling down and repurposing Soldier Field is likely a better track), we should ask whether it does this effectively at a reasonable cost.

Taking out the legality of the stadium or design, a disappointing carbon copy of Allegiant Stadium, this essentially is a parking green roof over a parking deck with five ball fields on top for over 1.2 billion dollars. That is over 200 million for each glorified children's baseball and soccer field. So essentially, we can dump over a billion dollars to have an even less utilized and accessible Hutchinson Field that sits in Grant Park. I can't even wrap my head around the idiocy of the scheme. The opportunity cost of dumping money on underground parking and sports fields when the city could create amazing parks elsewhere is obvious. You could build a Millennium Park on the South and West sides and still have money left over for the price of what this debacle would cost.

I see no plans to integrate it with the museum campus or the neighborhood west. I don't see how logistics, parking, or accessibility are greatly improved. Other than a green land bridge connecting the south of the Field Museum to the land south, I do not see much "integration" here.

[IrishIllini]

Overall I don't hate it. Get the sense naming rights are for sale since it says STADIUM and not SOLDIER FIELD.

[aaron38]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Overall I don't hate it. Get the sense naming rights are for sale since it says STADIUM and not SOLDIER FIELD.

Regardless of naming rights, it can't be Soldier Field, because the dead hulk of Soldier Field is sitting just north of it. Like the ruin of an ancient Greek temple that the kids now play in.

[Kngkyle]

You can include me in the camp that thinks keeping Soldier Field as a functional stadium (albeit scaled down) for concerts, events, and maybe the Chicago Fire is a better use of that space than the open fields envisioned. This whole vision is likely just so they can say they are adding greenspace with this plan to help with the inevitable legal case. I think a better alternative to "add green space" would be to get rid of the Huntington Bank Pavilion on Northly Island and move those events to a downsized Soldier Field....

I'm also of the opinion that adding some city-owned restaurant space around the stadium/Museum Campus would not be such a bad thing... it would help further activate the area. I see the lakefront restaurants/bars as a positive not a negative.... thinking of Castaways, Theater on the Lake, Shore Club, Boat Drinks, etc...

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

3 billion dollars plus cost over runs

8 games a year

Make it make sense

Plus a Superbowl at least once, and maybe twice assuming it lasts 25 years. Plus the NCAA final four Basketball once or maybe twice. Plus one or two big concerts per year in the winter...

[southoftheloop]

This is what I imagined the stadium would look like if they were to build in Arlington Heights...if the Bears are going to build a giant new structure on the lakefront, make it classy, timeless, relevant—not a cookie cutter dome that could belong in any Sunbelt city.

[UPChicago]

A lot of alders were concerned about spending $1.25 billion over five years to invest in historically disinvested communities, so I hope they also have an equally difficult time with spending as much, if not more, on a single stadium that will not drive much economic development and will only benefit a few wealthy people.

[mh777]

Originally Posted by DCReid

Plus a Superbowl at least once, and maybe twice assuming it lasts 25 years. Plus the NCAA final four Basketball once or maybe twice. Plus one or two big concerts per year in the winter...

One or two concerts? It’d be way more than that. And think, you could even host Lola there, which would appease all those (which seem to be a good amount) that complain about taking over millennium park for a few weeks.

[Chisouthside]

A festival with the colonades in the background would look great

[pilsenarch]

Originally Posted by mh777

One or two concerts? It’d be way more than that. And think, you could even host Lola there, which would appease all those (which seem to be a good amount) that complain about taking over millennium park for a few weeks.

Lollapalooza has never been in Millennium Park. It takes place in Grant Park.

[SamInTheLoop]

Hard no, folks.

The end.

[twister244]

I like the current plan, but I can respect the desire to keep Soldier Field in place. However, to justify that, there will have to be enough demand to justify keeping and maintaining it. Do we know if that exists with a new shiny dome right next door?

And if it is justified, then this plan could easily be modified to keep Soldier Field in place, with the removal of "space ship" that was put in.

Either way, I'm actually pleasantly surprised by what was presented today. It's trying to be a shiny new dome that is integrated with a green museum campus. There was a lot of focus on showing the beautiful Soldier Field columns with the new modern stadium in the background. It means there's an effort to go beyond just building a new stadium, which I do appreciate.

With respect to the stadium itself, It's not blowing me away, but it's an NFL stadium..... The bar isn't exactly low here. With that said, I think it's good, and I like the big glass wall and the lighting.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by DCReid

Plus a Superbowl at least once, and maybe twice assuming it lasts 25 years. Plus the NCAA final four Basketball once or maybe twice. Plus one or two big concerts per year in the winter...

Wow, one entire super bowl in a quarter century? For 3 billion dollars? WATTA DEAL. Where do I sign