Soldier Field facts for kids

Soldier Field
	Stadium in a Park
	Soldier Field in October 2006
Former names	Municipal Grant Park Stadium (1924–1925)
Address	1410 S Museum Campus Drive
Location	Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates	41°51′44″N 87°37′00″W / 41.8623°N 87.6167°WCoordinates: 41°51′44″N 87°37′00″W / 41.8623°N 87.6167°W
Public transit	Metra: 18th Street; Roosevelt; Red Orange Green
Owner	Chicago Park District
Operator	SMG
Executive suites	133
Capacity	66,944 (1994); 61,500 (2003)
Acreage	7 acres (2.8 ha)
Surface	Kentucky Bluegrass; (1924–1970, 1988–present); AstroTurf (1971–1987)
Construction
Broke ground	August 11, 1922
Opened	October 9, 1924; 96 years ago
Renovated	2002–2003
Closed	January 19, 2002 –; September 26, 2003 (renovations)
Construction cost	US$13 million (original); ($162 million in 2015 dollars); $632 million (2001–2003 renovation); Renovations: ($732 million in 2015 dollars )
Architect	Holabird & Roche; Wood + Zapata, Inc.; Lohan Caprile Goettsch Architects
Project manager	Hoffman Associates
Structural engineer	Thornton Tomasetti
Services engineer	Ellerbe Becket
General contractor	Turner/Barton Malow/Kenny
Tenants
	Notre Dame Fighting Irish football (NCAA) (1929); Chicago Rockets/Hornets (AAFC) (1946–1949); Chicago Cardinals (NFL) (1959); UIC Chikas football (NCAA) (1966–1973); Chicago Spurs (NPSL) (1967); Chicago Owls (CFL) (1968–1969); Chicago Bears (NFL) (1971–2001, 2003–present); Chicago Sting (NASL) (1975–1976); Chicago Fire (WFL) (1974); Chicago Winds (WFL) (1975); Chicago Blitz (USFL) (1983–1984); Chicago Fire FC (MLS) (1998–2001, 2003–2005, 2020–present); Chicago Enforcers (XFL) (2001)
	Former U.S. National Historic Landmark
Designated:	1987
Delisted:	2006

Soldier Field is an American football stadium located in the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, near Downtown Chicago. It opened in 1924 and is the home field of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), who moved there in 1971, and Chicago Fire FC of Major League Soccer (MLS), who will begin playing at the stadium in 2020. It has a football capacity of 61,500, and it is the oldest stadium in the NFL.

The stadium's interior was rebuilt as part of a major renovation project in 2002, which modernized the facility but lowered seating capacity, while also causing it to be delisted as a National Historic Landmark. Soldier Field has served as the home venue for a number of other sports teams in its history, including the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL, University of Notre Dame football, as well as games from the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, and multiple CONCACAF Gold Cup championships. In 1968, it hosted the first Games of the Special Olympics.

Images for kids

Soldier field 2006
Sculpture of a sailor and his family, gazing eastward, over Lake Michigan
Aerial view of the stadium in 1988.
Aerial view from 2002, showing Soldier Field with interior demolished. Meigs Field airport is to the right in the image.
Soldier Field as seen from Lake Shore Drive. The modern grandstands, added in 2003, extend well above the original Neoclassical columns.
1926 Army–Navy Game at Soldier Field
Aerial view of the stadium in 2008
The 2014 NHL Stadium Series featuring the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins
Soldier Field before a soccer match
President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Soldier Field
Gen. Douglas MacArthur at Soldier Field
Martin Luther King, Jr. at Soldier Field during the 1966 Chicago Freedom Movement rally.
President Barack Obama throws a football at Soldier Field after the 2012 NATO summit.
Aerial view, c. 1988, behind the stadium is the Field Museum of Natural History
View from Northerly Island
Front of bronze mural
View towards the western grandstand's cantilever over the original western colonnade
Soldier Field nearing completion, 1924.
Soccer game