This fall Soldier Field will be 100 years old, and for the last several years the organization had explored a move out to the northwest suburbs of Arlington Heights.
The more serious those talks got, the more loyal Bears fans became adamant about keeping the team in the heart of the city, and preferably on the lakefront.
Well today, after months of speculation, the Bears announced plans for a new stadium project that will do exactly that, and a stadium is just a part of their grand plan.
The organization announced that, as part of a public-private partnership, they're committing $2 billion to a enclosed stadium, and multi-purpose recreational and cultural campus that will put the city in position to host some of the biggest events in sports and entertainment.
Replacing Soldier field and building an accompanying campus to the new stadium will be one of the largest construction projects the city has ever seen, set to create an estimated 43,000 jobs during construction.
On the Bears website, they describe the new venue as:
The transformative project will increase public open and green space, providing Chicago’s families a safe place to gather and play.
The recreational and cultural campus anchored by a new replacement stadium will add to the vitality of downtown. It will attract residents and visitors alike to a more vibrant campus that can be enjoyed throughout the year.
Soldier Field will be restored to its original scale with open athletic fields, and the historic colonnade, honoring the military men and women who have served our country, will be preserved and publicly accessible.
The Bears have seemingly found a way to give just about everyone (except maybe the mayor of Arlington Heights) what they want with this new space as the organization moves into the future.
Based on the renderings, this certainly puts it right up there with some of the new NFL stadiums that have popped up the last several years.
Take a look at the plans in the clip, and a few renderings courtesy of the Bears website.
