CHICAGO - Soldier Field (61,500)

[skobabe8]

The place before te renovations was a dump. I like it now, I just wish it wasn't so small.

The Olympics would be a gimmee if SF was large enough to host.

[nomarandlee]

I never thought it was a "dump" like some seemed to and I went there dozens of times over the years. It had to have some more modern amentities for revenue purposes but I never felt especially deprived.

Originally Posted by SIC

Would you have preferred they demolished it?

The pre-renovation had crappy sight-lines and the rest of the infrastructure was a dump. It was also just another cookie cutter greco-roman style stadium, hardly unique. People get blinded by nolstagia, sure it looked "classier" from the outside. But as an actual spectator, it sucked. It was a relic, a dump, and etc.

As for capacity, while it maybe the smallest stadium in a US bid, it's still large by World Cup standards (and global standards). South Africa has several stadiums with lower capacity and I think even proposed England bids would have a couple venues with less than 63k capacity.

It was renovated specifically for Football (all codes) and excels as one. Nothing more, nothing less.

Having it torn down is not a forgone conclusion at all. For a decade and a half there were various locations the Bears and city talked about relocating the Bears. The idea that Solider Field necessitated the Bears in order to save it long term is pretty speculative.

In terms of the capacity issue all the other plans the Bears had included varying amounts of more seats and in fact they compromised in settling for less seats because Hallas/McCaskey had a hard on keeping the Bears along the lakefront.

Though there are aspects I like about the new Soldier Field in retrospect I wish they gone for a retractable stadium as part of the McCormick Complex or part of a UC or US Cellular sports complex.

[koolio]

I can understand why Chicago residents who had an historical affinity with the old building might be disappointed but to be honest, I absolutely love the stadium. I think the modern facade contrasts quite nicely with the remnants of the old Soldier Field. The interior looks top notch as well ... I certainly prefer that interior to, say, that of the new Cowboys Stadium. The only disappointment that I feel is about the capacity ... should have been atleast 80,000.

[isaidso]

A wonderful looking stadium, but I did like the old stadium a great deal. Those luxury boxes really blemished it though.

[skobabe8]

I thought 'dump' because the majority of the bathrooms were port-o-potties. And the concessions were...well, not good.

[nyrmetros]

The capacity seems to small for the 3rd largest city in the country.

[coren]

I loved the old soldier field. She was a grand old lady and home to some unforgettable games but times move on and I for one think they did a great job of blending the old with the new. The fact they didn't flatten it full stop like so many old greats is a result. I can't wait to visit there next season.

9 out of 10 for me... it looses a mark for that capacity issue.

[schulzte]

8 of 10

For me, its what inside the stadium that counts. This is the best seating bowl and most intimate stadium in the NFL, with lots of cantilevered seating. That the architects were able to fit this modern stadium inside the footprint of the old stadium is really amazing. And while the 61,500 seats is a little small, old Soldier Field only held 66,000, and one can see how much larger it was. Does anyone have any really old pictures of Soldier Field before its first renovation, when it had a running track and had 100,000+ seats, before the Bears moved in?

Check out http://www.stadiumdrawings.blogspot.com

[nomarandlee]

There are a few photos on page four I posted.

[nomarandlee]

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune....and-its-c.html

11/06/2009
Soldier Field revealed

Five things Liam Ford was surprised to learn while researching his recent book, “Soldier Field: A Stadium and Its City ”:


1. While they were building Soldier Field, the South Park Commission had trouble deciding whether to allow professional football there. The South Parks controlled Chicago’s lakefront parks from Grant Park south, and wanted the new Grant Park Stadium to serve as a venue to showcase the athleticism of the children of the South Side. In the summer of 1925, the commissioners voted to study whether to allow professional teams to play there. Eventually, they decided it would be all right — and bring some money in to support park programs.

2. The original Soldier Field designs called for a giant monument at the south end of the stadium, where the stadium curves to resemble a Greek theater. The memorial would have stood just above Gate 0, where the sign with the stadium’s name is today. Because of cost, the South Park Commissioners decided to forgo the monument. Although the colonnades were designed to recall a great memorial of the past, the Mausoleum of Mausolus, it was only after the original designs were abandoned that South Park Commissioners began referring to the colonnades as the memorial structure at the stadium.

3. Building Soldier Field understandably became a massive undertaking. Much of the site for the stadium was still under water when the park commissioners voted to construct it south of the Field Museum. While it was being built, the New York Times noted that it was the largest building ever to make use of “concrete stone,” that is, concrete made to look like cut stone, with 130,000 cubic feet of the stuff.

4. The Bears regularly played at Soldier Field for years. But, until they moved there from Wrigley Field in 1971, they appeared at the stadium usually only for exhibition or charity games, such as an annual Armed Forces benefit game or the College All-Star Game. The Bears almost didn’t move to Soldier Field, which could have doomed the arena. George Halas had a contract to move his players to Northwestern University’s Dyche Stadium, but the Big Ten conference nixed the idea — and the Chicago Park District quickly offered Soldier Field.

5. For nearly 30 years, from the late 1930 through the 1960s, the most popular professional sport at Soldier Field wasn’t football: it was car racing. The first races were held in the mid-1930s, and for decades thousands of people came to Soldier Field almost every weekend from May through August to see midget stock-car races, demolition derbies and stunt racing. Racing ended at the stadium in the mid-1960s, depriving the Park District of a large revenue source — and probably setting the stage for the Bears’ move there.

..

[nyrmetros]

pictures of car racing at Soldier Field?

[Jan Del Castillo]

9. Very good. Regards.

[Severiano]

It looks like the people in the huge top tier opposite the luxury boxes can just tumble over onto the field. Pretty cramped.