Chicago City Wire

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently spoke about the renovations to Soldier Field that will allow it to retain its role as the economic engine.

"An improved Soldier Field will deliver a world-class visitor experience," Lightfoot said in a press release. "Furthermore, any of these proposed renovations will allow Soldier Field to retain its role as an economic engine for Chicago for years to come, as these changes will allow us to keep bringing sports, music and other exciting events to our city."

Lightfoot has proposed three options for renovations of Soldier Field, ranging in cost from $900 million to $2.2 billion, according to a release. The first option would be to rebuild both endzones, adding columns that would support a dome in order to fully enclose the stadium. The second proposed option would build columns that would make the stadium ready for a dome. The third option would modify the stadium to make it more suited for soccer, as well as concerts and other large events. 

The proposals also include expanding seating, adding more food and beverage areas, increasing the number of suites and adding more clubs and experiential areas. 

"These proposed renovations would vastly improve the visitor experience for hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans and tourists alike," said Jack Lavin, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and member of the Museum Campus Working Group. "Adding new amenities to Soldier Field for private events and public use will support the Museum Campus and the entire city of Chicago, and drive vital revenue and job growth for our city's small and mid-size business community."

In September, the Chicago Bears signed $197.2 million purchase and sale agreement with Churchill Downs Inc. for the Arlington Park racetrack site, 30 miles northwest of Soldier Field, ESPN reported. 

"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," the Bears said in a statement. "We have informed the City of Chicago that we intend to honor our contractual commitments as we continue our due diligence and predevelopment activities on the Arlington Heights property. In the meantime, we remain committed to fulfilling our Permit Operating Agreement (POA) at Soldier Field."

Lightfoot said any investment made of "precious tax dollars" will have a substantial return on that investment that makes sense for the taxpayers.

"We have not seen any plan that would keep that burden off the taxpayers," said Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry, calling Lightfoot's proposals "prohibitively expensive," the Chicago Sun-Times reported.