Fire possibly buying equipment from Sportsman's Park

mangia · Mar 24, 2004

from Sprotsman's Park.

Seats and possibly luxury boxes.

I don't remember anything like this before in a new stadium.

Sounds like AEG is cheapening out.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...24,1,3152503.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed

theburden · Mar 24, 2004

Re: Fire Looking to Buy Old Equipment

The squad, which plays in the Major Soccer League, is moving....
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This is the Chicago Tribune, keep in mind, not the New Dehli press or anything.

FanofSoccer · Mar 24, 2004

Used Seats?

If AEG is looking to save money on seats, skyboxes and elevators, where else will they cut corners?

This place may make Cardinal Stadium look like a palace!

CUS · Mar 24, 2004

Re: Fire Looking to Buy Old Equipment

So long as they have cupholders, who cares?

HalaMadrid · Mar 24, 2004

Re: Fire Looking to Buy Old Equipment

I don't think they're cheapening out. I think they're looking at how to best use the 70 mil. If we save 10 mil on seats and escalators, that's 10 mil we can spend on a full roof or extra jumbotron.

This may also allow the stadium to be all-seated (except for Section 8 of course). I'm pretty sure that wasn't budgeted for originally.

And for crap's sake we're red-and-white!

CICERO -- The same seats that offered fans a view of horse and automotive racing in Sportsman's Park may soon fill nearby soccer stadium.

Officials of the Chicago Fire professional soccer team and its parent company, Anschutz Entertainment Group, have toured the Cicero locale at least twice and are considering making an offer on a portion of the track's 70,000 seats as well as other fixtures, such as the glassed-in suites, elevators and escalators, said a team spokesman.

Ultimately, the club needs to assess whether the cost of disassembling the seats and moving them is cheaper than buying new seats, the spokesman said. The squad, which plays in the Major Soccer League, is moving into a stadium that will be built on 60 acres at Harlem Avenue and 79th Street in Bridgeview in time for the 2006 season.

Sportsman's seats are red, which fits with the Fire's red-and-blue color scheme.

Cicero bought the racetrack at 3301 S. Laramie Ave. last summer for $16 million and intends to develop it commercially, though a formal plan has not yet been determined. The town solicited bids for the seats to recoup some of its investments, but three offers cumulatively amounted to only $246,000, less than the $300,000 that officials believe they should get with one offer.

If necessary, town officials said they might sell the seats as scrap material.

"That seating is very good. Instead of scrapping it, we could put it to good use," said Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek.
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mangia · Mar 24, 2004

Re: Fire Looking to Buy Old Equipment

Plus the Fire plays in the MLS not Major League Soccer!

HalaMadrid · Mar 25, 2004

Re: Fire Looking to Buy Old Equipment

Are there any pictures around of Sportsman's Park post renovation?