Dome game? Plan floated to cover Soldier Field to keep Bears

Group wants to find a way to keep football team in city

Mayor Lori Lightfoot with Soldier Field
Mayor Lori Lightfoot with Soldier Field (Getty, Wikipedia, iStock)

Chicago officials launched a Hail Mary to keep the Bears at Soldier field: A partly taxpayer-funded dome to keep the chill at bay.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Lakefront Museum Campus Working Group drafted a report calling for the city to “explore the feasibility” of putting a dome atop the seven-acre stadium on the Near North Side to make it more attractive to users including the NFL team, Crain’s reported.

While the cost hasn’t been determined, a person familiar with the discussion said it could total between $400 million to $1.5 billion and would “almost certainly” require some taxpayer assistance. Lightfoot has said she’d like the Bears to stay in the Windy City, though she isn’t willing to unload a big bill onto the city’s taxpayers.

“To better utilize Soldier Field year-round, the working group recommends the city explore the feasibility of enclosing the stadium,” the report said. “Although an enclosed venue is unlikely to attract many more major concerts due to limited touring windows, among other reasons, it would negate inconsistent weather conditions and allow Chicago to host coveted one-time events.”

The suggested upgrades, which include rebuilding parts of the stadium and selling naming rights to big sponsors, may not be enough to keep the team. A spokesperson for the team said it’s focused exclusively on a pending deal to buy and use the former Arlington International Racecourse in nearby Arlington Heights.

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“Enclosing Soldier Field would incur the greatest cost of the recommendations for the venue,” the committee said. “These costs would almost certainly not be offset by additional revenue opportunities.”

The other sports team that uses Soldier Field is the Chicago Fire Football Club, a Major League Soccer franchise owned by billionaire Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto. Last month, the Chicago Housing Authority made a controversial decision to lease 26 acres of vacant land for the team to use as a practice field, instead of using it for more housing.

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[CCB] — Victoria Pruitt