Soldier Field facts for kids
Stadium in a Park
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Soldier Field in October 2006
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Former names | Municipal Grant Park Stadium (1924–1925) |
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Address | 1410 S Museum Campus Drive |
Location | Chicago, Illinois |
Coordinates | 41°51′44″N 87°37′00″W / 41.8623°N 87.6167°W |
Public transit | ![]() ![]() ![]() 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 98 years ago |
Renovated | 2002–2003 |
Closed | January 19, 2002 – September 26, 2003 (renovations) |
Construction cost | US$13 million (original) ($162 million in 2015 dollars)2018 $632 million (2001–2003 renovation) Renovations: ($732 million in 2015 dollars2018) |
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) |
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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
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Sculpture of a sailor and his family, gazing eastward, over Lake Michigan
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Aerial view from 2002, showing Soldier Field with interior demolished. Meigs Field airport is to the right in the image.
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The 2014 NHL Stadium Series featuring the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Soldier Field
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Gen. Douglas MacArthur at Soldier Field
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Martin Luther King, Jr. at Soldier Field during the 1966 Chicago Freedom Movement rally.
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President Barack Obama throws a football at Soldier Field after the 2012 NATO summit.
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Aerial view, c. 1988, behind the stadium is the Field Museum of Natural History
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View from Northerly Island
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View towards the western grandstand's cantilever over the original western colonnade