The Chicago Bears’ next home remains a subject of debate, but an architect has thrown a “Hail Mary” to keep the team at Soldier Field.
Edward Peck has designed a dome that would be placed over Soldier Field, along with seating additions and a new entertainment district that would be located over DuSable Lake Shore Drive, as part of an attempt to convince the Bears staying in Chicago may be their best play.
“Sort of a Hail Mary attempt at, you know, bringing people back to the discussion table about solutions for Soldier Field,” he told NBC Chicago’s Patrick Fazio.
The suspended dome canopy would be placed over the existing stadium at Soldier Field, part of Peck’s vision of making the stadium viable as a host of the Super Bowl, Final Four, and other major events.
“I’ve been involved in several stadiums around the world that uses this material. It’s lightweight, it’s transparent,” he said.
Peck said the design he unveiled would also allow for nearly 9,000 additional spectators within the stadium, pushing it over the 70,000-fan threshold needed to be considered as a Super Bowl host site.
Best of all, Peck says the cost of the project would check in around $700 million to $1 billion, saving approximately 30-to-35% on previous estimates to renovate the stadium.
Still, the plan drew scrutiny from Friends of the Parks, who has expressed concerns about new construction along the lakefront.
“Having an entertainment complex near where Soldier Field sits is very concerning,” Executive Director Brian Gladstein said.
He worries the new proposal would block access to the lakefront.
“If we are talking about trying to increase opportunities and jobs. Let’s look at the 600+ parks that are that exist across our city,” he said.
Peck disagrees, saying the project would draw even more visitors to the lakefront and improve their access to that space.
“We can essentially bring more neighborhoods to the lake through these deck developments,” he said. “We’re actually adding about 10 acres to the park land.”
The proposal would need support from the city, the state and the Bears, and it’s unclear who would pay for the construction and how revenue would be shared.
Still, Peck said that the idea was simply one aimed at putting Chicago back into the conversation for the site of the new stadium project.
“We just want to have this conversation before the decision, the final decision, is made to move elsewhere,” he said.
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