Like, I get that the city “needs” a big stadium. It’s like how a city “needs” roads or an airport. But let’s worry less about the Bears and more about everyone else.
Joe was initially talking about a SSS. With those pockets he must have some kinda pull. With the Bears gone, how much call is there for 70,000 seats in town? None. Modify the place to proper, straight sides along the field, put covering over the stands (that would still be less visible/eyesore from outside the place than spaceship now) with columns still in place, and you can put another 10,000 on the field for 50,000 people for concerts. And it would still cost less than what was proposed today (I'm guessin'). And use some of that taxpayer dosh for a light rail from Roosevelt Road Blueline stop to Museum Campus, to benefit the Field, Shed, and Northerly Island year round as well. Hey, no little plans, but without getting sooo carried away.
Yes you will get screwed considering they still haven't paid off the previous renovation. My guess is this ain't happening.
Yeah, that was always pure, unadulterated bullshyte. A SSS was never going to happen in the city. If the city wants a Final 4, or other big events, they kinda need 70k seats. They needed it 20 years ago, and they need it now. Blame the incompetent and corrupt boomer Daley for shitting his pants on this one. Yeah, and reduce the overall utility of the stadium for the city? I'm sure they'll be happy to do that. Indeed. Make a publicly owned stadium smaller and less able to compete with the upcoming 70k venue in Arlington Heights, and put in light rail to serve the smaller stadium. I'm sure the friends of the parks will be happy to accommodate this.
The soccer config doesn’t have a roof, and without the roof we ain’t getting a final four. We ain’t directly competing with AH for events without a roof. So yes, in a roofless soccer configuration, reduce capacity (or at the very least don’t bump it 70k and make it easier to obscure empty seats like Vancouver and Atlanta do), and either damn way, get a light rail line to the museum campus. That’s a nobrainer either way.
"Need"? Nah. There are many things Chicago legitimately NEEDS. A 70,000 seat dome is not one of them. $2.2 Billion to host the Final Four once every 15 years or so? Pass. Chicago can just suck it up like those backwater burgs of NYC and LA.
I'm pretty sure there are a lot more things that the residents of Chicago need more than a re-renovated Soldier Field.
Remember that this is an election year. Lightfoot basically just needs to convince people that she's serious about trying to keep the Bears, secondarily the Fire, because the voters are proportional there. If she can convince enough voters that she can retain the Bears, she'll be that much closer to a second term.
I would like a police force that solves crimes without being unconstitutionally brutal (CPD fails on both fronts), the Red Line extension, a new north south CTA line that runs west of the Loop (the Ashland corridor seems like a good spot for that), a tram or light rail line that goes from the Museum campus west along Roosevelt to UIC, and better bike infrastructure Did I miss anything?
Pretty sure the Bears have their mind made up already, and will move to AH where they will be able to control everything. Don’t see the Park District making the stadium smaller or more soccer friendly either. They’re not going to spend money to make Soldier Field smaller. Still have college football games and potential other sporting events. Unfortunately, not too many people care about the Fire or MLS in this city.
we should take this to a different thread but bus rapid transit -- not rail -- for Ashland (and Western)
Sadly I agree. I think the Bears are convinced that their fan base is not in the city any more but the suburbs, especially the north shore and north western suburbs.
I actually disagree that the Bears are thinking their fan base is more in the suburbs. The whole motivation is making money for them. If they can have a stadium that they control every single revenue stream they could care less where the fans are coming from. They are definitely not thinking "Hey we should move to the suburbs because that's where our fans are at".
one thing about the Bears is that while the McCaskeys are rich, the Bears are the sole source of their money and they don't quite have the financial wiggle that some ultra-rich owners do
Gimme rail first, second, and last and BRT only as a last resort, but I mean, in this city I’ll take what I can get which means a combination of jack and shit, as always.
For various reasons I am not the biggest fan of BRT. If you want transit oriented development, the BRT infrastructure is too easy to move. Rail also has some advantages on efficient -- rails are more efficient that tires. But BRT is cheaper, much cheaper if you do not but some bells and whistles on them
Despite the disparity in Bears fans to Fire fans, I’d imagine that virtually every voter can think of something they’d rather the city provide them instead of a re-renovated Soldier Field. Is that really going to get votes?
Whether you or I believe that Chicago can host bigger events apart from NFL games or not, the earlier reno of NSF was shambolic. They should have put a roof on it, and 70k+ seats in it, if they wanted to maximize that venue. That Lightfoot is trying to rescue the bears from the jaws of defeat is admirable, but is really a fool's errand.
I think that is part of it, she needs an issue. This election is going to be real ugly. Unlike other candidates, Lightfoot does not have a natural base. In 2019 that helped her, as people we so annoyed at corruption and police brutality that she was able to position herself well. She was enough of an insider (former assistant US attorney and member of the police oversight board) to know how things work, but enough of an outsider not be tainted by the Burke and other corruption scandals or the issues with policing. Her initial COVID response was seen positively. But she seems unable to handle the nitty gritty of governing (too many vacancies on appointments for one thing). She has managed to alienate just about every interest group in the city. Everyone is angered about crime, or the CTA or bike lanes or the schools. Whenever she finds herself criticized she responds by lashing out, claiming it is because she is black, or a woman or gay. Yet she just might win again. The Obamas tried to get Arne Duncan then Mike Quigley to run but they decided not to. Her other opponents are either nuts (like FOP president John Catanzara), vanity candidates (someone please get Willie Wilson a hobby), or somewhat obscure local politicians. There is Alderman Lopez who is trying to position himself as something of a law and order candidate, but he has lots of issues and is just as thin skinned as Lightfoot. Eugene Sawyers son (also an Alderman) is running. But no alderman has ever been elected mayor while also being a sitting alderman. So politically Lightfoot may see this Soldier Field thing as a way to broaden her base. She touts keeping the Bears in Chicago, the redevelopment of the SF site, and the jobs the redevelopment will create (construction and afterward). She holds herself out as the least bad candidate. Four years ago she won in a landslide in the run off. But she only made the run off because the Machine votes were split amongst a bunch of candidates and a few spoilers (like Joyce) were able to hurt candidates like Daley. When she found herself in the run off (and it was a bit of a shock, in January, Lightfoot was polling around 4-5%) it was easy. It will not be easy in February but she might just be able to position herself as the least annoying candidate and win.
My Fire tickets are club seats. Nice when it is cold. Given that the museum campus is there, I think a light rail might be a good year round thing. I would like a line that runs from McCormack Place to maybe UIC.
Reducing capacity reduces overall utility. I get that fire fans want it to be more fire-appropriate in terms of capacity, but making it smaller, and/or without a roof makes NSF a lesser venue than many in the region. Agreed that some sort of transport to/from that part of the city is necessary as well. And yes, we can all list chapter and verse of things the city needs before fixing the craptacular reno of NSF. But if the city's gonna do it, they'll likely do it with more than MLS' wooden spoon dynasty in mind.