Soldier Field

History

Soldier Field was designed in 1919 and opened on October 9, 1924, as Municipal Grant Park Stadium. The name was changed to Soldier Field on November 11, 1925, as a memorial to U.S. soldiers who had died in combat. Its formal dedication as Soldier Field was on Saturday, November 27, 1926, during the 29th annual playing of the Army–Navy Game. Its design is in the Neoclassical style, with Doric columns rising above the East and West entrances. The stadium cost $13 million to construct ($182 million in 2015 dollars), a very large sum for a sporting venue at that time (in comparison, L.A. Memorial Coliseum had cost less than $1 million in 1923 dollars).

Early configuration

In its earliest configuration, Soldier Field was capable of seating 74,280 spectators and was in the shape of a U. Additional seating could be added along the interior field, upper promenades and on the large, open field and terrace beyond the north endzone, bringing the seating capacity to over 100,000.

Chicago Bears move in

Soldier Field was used as a site for many sporting events and exhibitions. The Chicago Cardinals used it as their home field for their final season in Chicago in 1959. A dozen years later in September 1971, the Chicago Bears moved in, originally with a three-year commitment. They previously played at Wrigley Field, best known as the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, but were forced to move to a larger venue due to post-AFL–NFL merger policies requiring that stadium capacities seat over 50,000 spectators. They had intended to build a stadium in Arlington Heights. In 1978, the Bears and the Chicago Park District agreed to a 20-year lease and renovation of the stadium. Both parties pooled their resources for the renovation. The playing surface was AstroTurf from 1971 through 1987, replaced with natural grass in 1988.

Replacement talks

In 1989, Soldier Field's future was in jeopardy after a proposal was created for a "McDome", which was intended to be a domed stadium for the Bears, but was rejected by the Illinois Legislature in 1990. Because of this, Bears president Michael McCaskey considered relocation as a possible factor for a new stadium. The Bears had also purchased options in Hoffman Estates and Aurora. In 1995, McCaskey announced that he and Northwest Indiana developers agreed to construction of an entertainment complex called "Planet Park", which would also include a new stadium. However, the plan was rejected by the Lake County Council, and in 1998, Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley proposed that the Bears share Comiskey Park with the Chicago White Sox.

Renovation and landmark delisting

Beginning in 1978, the plank seating was replaced by individual seats with backs and armrests. In 1982, a new press box as well as 60 skyboxes were added to the stadium, boosting capacity to 66,030. In 1988, 56 more skyboxes were added increasing capacity to 66,946. Capacity was slightly increased to 66,950 in 1992. By 1994, capacity was slightly reduced to 66,944. During the renovation, seating capacity was reduced to 55,701 by building a grandstand in the open end of the U shape. This moved the field closer to both ends at the expense of seating capacity. The goal of this renovation was to move the fans closer to the field. The front row 50-yard line seats were then now only 55 feet (17 m) away from the sidelines, the shortest distance of all NFL stadiums, until MetLife Stadium opened in 2010, with a distance of 46 feet. Soldier Field received new light emitting diode (LED) video technology from Daktronics. Included in the installation was a video display measuring approximately 23 feet (7.0 m) high by 82 feet (25 m) wide and ribbon displays mounted on the fascia that measured more than 321 feet (98 m) in length.

In 2001, the Chicago Park District, which owns the structure, faced substantial criticism when it announced plans to alter the stadium with a design by Benjamin T. Wood and Carlos Zapata of the Boston-based architecture firm Wood + Zapata. Stadium grounds were reconfigured by Chicago-based architecture firm of Lohan Associate, led by architect Dirk Lohan, the grandson of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The stadium's interior would be demolished and reconstructed while the exterior would be preserved. This is an example of facadism. A similar endeavor of constructing a new stadium within the confines of an historic stadium's exterior was completed in Leipzig, Germany's Red Bull Arena, which similarly build a modern stadium while persevering the exterior of the original Zentralstadion.

Dozens of articles by writers and columnists attacked the project as an aesthetic, political, and financial nightmare. The project received mixed reviews within the architecture community, including criticism by civic and preservation groups. Prominent American architect and Chicagoan Stanley Tigerman called it "a fiasco". The Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin dubbed it the "Eyesore on the Lake Shore". The renovation was described by some as "a spaceship landed on the stadium". Lohan responded,

"I would never say that Soldier Field is an architectural landmark. Nobody has copied it; nobody has learned from it. People like it for nostalgic reasons. They remember the games and parades and tractor pulls and veterans' affairs they've seen there over the years. I wouldn't do this if it were the Parthenon. But this isn't the Parthenon."

Proponents argued the renovation was direly needed citing aging and cramped facilities. The New York Times ranked the renovated Soldier Field as one of the five best new buildings of 2003. Soldier Field was given an award in design excellence by the American Institute of Architects in 2004.

On September 23, 2004, as a result of the 2003 renovation, a 10-member federal advisory committee unanimously recommended that Soldier Field be delisted as a National Historic Landmark. The recommendation to delist was prepared by Carol Ahlgren, architectural historian at the National Park Service's Midwest Regional Office in Omaha, Nebraska. Ahlgren was quoted in Preservation Online as stating that "if we had let this stand, I believe it would have lowered the standard of National Historic Landmarks throughout the country", and, "If we want to keep the integrity of the program, let alone the landmarks, we really had no other recourse." The stadium lost the Landmark designation on February 17, 2006.

In May 2012, the stadium became the first NFL stadium to achieve LEED status.

Public transportation

The closest Chicago 'L' station to Soldier Field is the Roosevelt station on the Orange, Green and Red lines. The Chicago Transit Authority also operates the #128 Soldier Field Express bus route to the stadium from Ogilvie Transportation Center and Union Station. There are also two Metra stations close by—the Museum Campus/11th Street station on the Metra Electric Line, which also is used by South Shore Line trains, and 18th Street, which is only served by the Metra Electric Line. Pace also provides access from the Northwest, West and Southwest suburbs to the stadium with four express routes from Schaumburg, Lombard, Bolingbrook, Burr Ridge, Palos Heights and Oak Lawn.

Single events

NFL playoffs

NIU Huskies football

The NIU Huskies football team plays select games at Soldier Field, all of which have featured the Huskies hosting a team from the Big Ten Conference. The NIU campus is located in DeKalb, 65 miles (105 km) to the west on Interstate 88.

Notre Dame football

In 1929, Notre Dame used the stadium as home field while Notre Dame Stadium was being constructed. The school has used Soldier Field for single games on occasion both prior to and since the 1929 season.

Hockey

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Miami RedHawks played a doubleheader on February 17, 2013 with the Wisconsin Badgers and Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Hockey City Classic, the first outdoor hockey game in the history of the stadium. A Chicago Gay Hockey Association intra-squad game was held in affiliation with the Hockey City Classic.

The Chicago Blackhawks played against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 1, 2014 as part of the NHL's Stadium Series. The Blackhawks defeated the Penguins 5-1 before a sold-out crowd of 62,921. The team also held its 2015 Stanley Cup Championship celebration at the stadium instead of Grant Park, where other city championships have typically been held, due to recent rains.

February 7, 2015 Soldier Field hosted another edition of the Hockey City Classic. The event had been delayed due to unusually warm weather (42 °F) and complications with the quality of the ice. The 2015 edition of the Hockey City Classic featured a match between Miami of Ohio and Western Michigan, followed by a match between the Big Ten's Michigan and Michigan State February 5 the organizers of the Hockey City Classic organized the Unite on the Ice event benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The event was centered upon a celebrity hockey game with former NHL and AHL players, as well as a public free skate at Soldier Field. Participants in the celebrity game included Éric Dazé, Jamal Mayers and Gino Cavallini. Denis Savard was in attendance, serving as an 'honorary coach' during the game. February 15, 2015 Soldier Field hosted another Chicago Gay Hockey Association intra-league match in association with the Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field.

CONCACAF Gold Cups

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Single events

Special Olympics

The 1st International Special Olympics Summer Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 19–20, 1968. The games spanned two days and more than 1,000 people with intellectual disabilities from 26 U.S. states and Canada competed in track and field and swimming, sparking a worldwide Special Olympics movement that now thrives today.

Rugby union

The stadium hosted its first international rugby union test match between the United States Eagles and New Zealand All Blacks on November 1, 2014 as part of the 2014 end-of-year rugby union tests. More than half of the 61,500 tickets were sold within two days. The All Blacks beat the Eagles 74–6. The stadium hosted its second international rugby union match on September 5, 2015 with the United States hosting Australia as part of the 2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches shortly before both teams were due to travel to England for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The Eagles were defeated 47–10. Ireland beat New Zealand 40-29 on November 5, 2016 at Soldier Field, as part of the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals - the very first time Ireland had beaten the All Blacks in a Test match in 111 years of play.

Other events

In popular culture