The Arlington Park Bears

[UMFan83]

I'm assuming that a bunch of retail/restaurants/bars would spring up around the park (assuming there's enough space) and it would almost act like its own little stadium village. If you drove through downtown Foxborough you would never expect a giant football stadium to be located in the town...its a quaint little New England town. I imagine it to be a little like that.

 

If there's enough space(IIRC there's not a ton but it's been 6 years since I lived in that area), you'd still need to get some more events/tenants to justify that, right? 10 Bears games a year wouldn't sustain those businesses I would think, and Arlington Park was a higher foot traffic baseline than an empty lot.

 

 

the Arlignton site is 326 acres, there is more then enough room. for comparison, here is Foxborough including the shopping areas (outlined in red) over the Arlington site (unofficial 1000' google meter comparison):

 

laptop resolution check

 

Link doesn't work for me.

 

Kinda crazy but Foxborough is actually closer to downtown Boston than Arlington Heights is to Chicago (30 miles vs. 38 miles). I've driven from Boston to Foxborough before and it definitely feels like you leave the Boston suburbs and are in a standalone town, still in the fringes of the Boston area. Arlington Heights feels like its still in the heart of the suburbs of Chicago. Chicago metro is pretty much twice the size of Boston though so I guess that's why.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I'm assuming that a bunch of retail/restaurants/bars would spring up around the park (assuming there's enough space) and it would almost act like its own little stadium village. If you drove through downtown Foxborough you would never expect a giant football stadium to be located in the town...its a quaint little New England town. I imagine it to be a little like that.

 

If there's enough space(IIRC there's not a ton but it's been 6 years since I lived in that area), you'd still need to get some more events/tenants to justify that, right? 10 Bears games a year wouldn't sustain those businesses I would think, and Arlington Park was a higher foot traffic baseline than an empty lot.

 

 

the Arlignton site is 326 acres, there is more then enough room. for comparison, here is Foxborough including the shopping areas (outlined in red) over the Arlington site (unofficial 1000' google meter comparison):

 

laptop resolution check

 

Oh if there's enough space in the existing Arlington Park footprint then never mind me, I was mostly thinking of the surrounding streets.

[WrigleyField 22]

 

If there's enough space(IIRC there's not a ton but it's been 6 years since I lived in that area), you'd still need to get some more events/tenants to justify that, right? 10 Bears games a year wouldn't sustain those businesses I would think, and Arlington Park was a higher foot traffic baseline than an empty lot.

 

 

the Arlignton site is 326 acres, there is more then enough room. for comparison, here is Foxborough including the shopping areas (outlined in red) over the Arlington site (unofficial 1000' google meter comparison):

 

laptop resolution check

 

Oh if there's enough space in the existing Arlington Park footprint then never mind me, I was mostly thinking of the surrounding streets.

Well in that mackup they ran over a bunch of the actual AP property. It's more L shaped, not a trapezoid. Basically that bottom left corner you have to exclude.

 

But yea it's a huge property and can fit so much. The actual stadium all the way to the exterior walls should fit inside the racetrack basically.

[minnesotacubsfan]

 

 

the Arlignton site is 326 acres, there is more then enough room. for comparison, here is Foxborough including the shopping areas (outlined in red) over the Arlington site (unofficial 1000' google meter comparison):

 

laptop resolution check

 

Oh if there's enough space in the existing Arlington Park footprint then never mind me, I was mostly thinking of the surrounding streets.

Well in that mackup they ran over a bunch of the actual AP property. It's more L shaped, not a trapezoid. Basically that bottom left corner you have to exclude.

 

But yea it's a huge property and can fit so much. The actual stadium all the way to the exterior walls should fit inside the racetrack basically.

"they"? thats MY work, chummmp

 

point taken

[WrigleyField 22]

 

Oh if there's enough space in the existing Arlington Park footprint then never mind me, I was mostly thinking of the surrounding streets.

Well in that mackup they ran over a bunch of the actual AP property. It's more L shaped, not a trapezoid. Basically that bottom left corner you have to exclude.

 

But yea it's a huge property and can fit so much. The actual stadium all the way to the exterior walls should fit inside the racetrack basically.

"they"? thats MY work, chummmp

 

point taken

Amateur hour at NSBB

[UMFan83]

 

 

the Arlignton site is 326 acres, there is more then enough room. for comparison, here is Foxborough including the shopping areas (outlined in red) over the Arlington site (unofficial 1000' google meter comparison):

 

laptop resolution check

 

Oh if there's enough space in the existing Arlington Park footprint then never mind me, I was mostly thinking of the surrounding streets.

Well in that mackup they ran over a bunch of the actual AP property. It's more L shaped, not a trapezoid. Basically that bottom left corner you have to exclude.

 

But yea it's a huge property and can fit so much. The actual stadium all the way to the exterior walls should fit inside the racetrack basically.

 

So you're saying we can build the stadium and still keep the historic Arlington Park grandstand so future generations can appreciate the history?

[minnesotacubsfan]

 

Oh if there's enough space in the existing Arlington Park footprint then never mind me, I was mostly thinking of the surrounding streets.

Well in that mackup they ran over a bunch of the actual AP property. It's more L shaped, not a trapezoid. Basically that bottom left corner you have to exclude.

 

But yea it's a huge property and can fit so much. The actual stadium all the way to the exterior walls should fit inside the racetrack basically.

 

So you're saying we can build the stadium and still keep the historic Arlington Park grandstand so future generations can appreciate the history?

 

you could almost build TWO stadiums inside the trackway and race horses around them during halftime

[UMFan83]

Well in that mackup they ran over a bunch of the actual AP property. It's more L shaped, not a trapezoid. Basically that bottom left corner you have to exclude.

 

But yea it's a huge property and can fit so much. The actual stadium all the way to the exterior walls should fit inside the racetrack basically.

 

So you're saying we can build the stadium and still keep the historic Arlington Park grandstand so future generations can appreciate the history?

 

you could almost build TWO stadiums inside the trackway and race horses around them during halftime

 

Beat THAT Soldier Field

[WrigleyField 22]

 

Oh if there's enough space in the existing Arlington Park footprint then never mind me, I was mostly thinking of the surrounding streets.

Well in that mackup they ran over a bunch of the actual AP property. It's more L shaped, not a trapezoid. Basically that bottom left corner you have to exclude.

 

But yea it's a huge property and can fit so much. The actual stadium all the way to the exterior walls should fit inside the racetrack basically.

 

So you're saying we can build the stadium and still keep the historic Arlington Park grandstand so future generations can appreciate the history?

Like make the grandstand apart of the stadium? Maybe if they want the junkiest stadium around.

 

Or is it like protecting the colonnades and they'll just drop whatever the f they want on top of it.

[UMFan83]

Well in that mackup they ran over a bunch of the actual AP property. It's more L shaped, not a trapezoid. Basically that bottom left corner you have to exclude.

 

But yea it's a huge property and can fit so much. The actual stadium all the way to the exterior walls should fit inside the racetrack basically.

 

So you're saying we can build the stadium and still keep the historic Arlington Park grandstand so future generations can appreciate the history?

Like make the grandstand apart of the stadium? Maybe if they want the junkiest stadium around.

 

Or is it like protecting the colonnades and they'll just drop whatever the f they want on top of it.

 

lol was just making a joke reference to the colonnades at Soldier Field. Lets build another stadium on top of another sporting facility.

[Sammy Sofa]

That's amateur hour. You should build up so they can have a rancor pit instead of the QB graveyard that's terrible for the environment.

[Sammy Sofa]

I mean, this guys is DEFINITELY a Superfan:

 

[Outshined_One]

Mulling things over a bit, does anyone expect the City of Chicago to actually find a replacement tenant for the Bears once they skip town in a few years? The Chicago Fire and concerts are nice, but the stadium is borderline unusable 6 months out of the year for non-football events. Something tells me that maintenance and upkeep fees for the stadium are going to be a serious budgetary issue for the City of Chicago a decade from now. The ridiculous lakefront development restrictions will also be a huge hinderance in getting the property sold if the City went that route, too.

 

I almost feel like the City would be best off in the long run just demolishing the stadium and using the colonnades as part of an event space or museum of some sort, while turning the parking lots and stadium area into parkland.

[WrigleyField 22]

Mulling things over a bit, does anyone expect the City of Chicago to actually find a replacement tenant for the Bears once they skip town in a few years? The Chicago Fire and concerts are nice, but the stadium is borderline unusable 6 months out of the year for non-football events. Something tells me that maintenance and upkeep fees for the stadium are going to be a serious budgetary issue for the City of Chicago a decade from now. The ridiculous lakefront development restrictions will also be a huge hinderance in getting the property sold if the City went that route, too.

 

I almost feel like the City would be best off in the long run just demolishing the stadium and using the colonnades as part of an event space or museum of some sort, while turning the parking lots and stadium area into parkland.

I think there is a high probability that will be the best course of action. We'll see though. Maybe there is a long term play that an MLS team can be a good long term anchor tenant, but it's a big bet as the Fire aren't that today. But I'd have to think they can retrofit to the Fire's liking in that scenario without doing something entirely new.

[UMFan83]

Mulling things over a bit, does anyone expect the City of Chicago to actually find a replacement tenant for the Bears once they skip town in a few years? The Chicago Fire and concerts are nice, but the stadium is borderline unusable 6 months out of the year for non-football events. Something tells me that maintenance and upkeep fees for the stadium are going to be a serious budgetary issue for the City of Chicago a decade from now. The ridiculous lakefront development restrictions will also be a huge hinderance in getting the property sold if the City went that route, too.

 

I almost feel like the City would be best off in the long run just demolishing the stadium and using the colonnades as part of an event space or museum of some sort, while turning the parking lots and stadium area into parkland.

 

A couple ideas I saw floated on twitter, none of them that good:

 

1. Northwestern moves there (why leave an on campus stadium that you can't fill anyways?)

2. Do a renovation to reduce seating and turn it into a soccer-only facility for the Fire and Red Stars

3. Do either a renovation or a complete teardown (most likely) and build a new White Sox Stadium there

4. Lure a 2nd NFL team to Chicago to play at Soldier Field.

 

I'm trying to think of a situation where a city has 2 NFL caliber football stadiums with only one in use by an NFL team besides situations where a college team also plays in the city (which is what several cities have - Seattle, SF Bay Area, LA, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Miami)

 

The only example I can think of is the Cotton Bowl in Dallas which does not currently host any teams and is located in the heart of the city while the NFL Stadium is in the suburbs. I'm not really sure what the purpose of the Cotton Bowl is. It doesn't even host its namesake game anymore, though it does host the Red River Showdown annually between Texas and OU. I'm not sure how its financially viable to upkeep, but at least its located on land less valuable than Soldier Field.

Edited September 29, 2021 by UMFan83

[Sammy Sofa]

It's already the Big Museum neighborhood; put another museum or two there.

[minnesotacubsfan]

It's already the Big Museum neighborhood; put another museum or two there.

 

a museum to what exactly? pain? suffering? long, unending and unfilled promises of a decent offense and broken dreams?

 

 

(actually, I was thinking the same thing, expand Grant Park or make a new park with room for the Field Museum to expand)

[Outshined_One]

It's already the Big Museum neighborhood; put another museum or two there.

 

In a perfect world, I think that'd be great, but we all remember what happened with the Lucas Museum.

[jersey cubs fan]

Mulling things over a bit, does anyone expect the City of Chicago to actually find a replacement tenant for the Bears once they skip town in a few years? The Chicago Fire and concerts are nice, but the stadium is borderline unusable 6 months out of the year for non-football events. Something tells me that maintenance and upkeep fees for the stadium are going to be a serious budgetary issue for the City of Chicago a decade from now. The ridiculous lakefront development restrictions will also be a huge hinderance in getting the property sold if the City went that route, too.

 

I almost feel like the City would be best off in the long run just demolishing the stadium and using the colonnades as part of an event space or museum of some sort, while turning the parking lots and stadium area into parkland.

 

The lakefront restrictions are a great thing.

[Outshined_One]

Mulling things over a bit, does anyone expect the City of Chicago to actually find a replacement tenant for the Bears once they skip town in a few years? The Chicago Fire and concerts are nice, but the stadium is borderline unusable 6 months out of the year for non-football events. Something tells me that maintenance and upkeep fees for the stadium are going to be a serious budgetary issue for the City of Chicago a decade from now. The ridiculous lakefront development restrictions will also be a huge hinderance in getting the property sold if the City went that route, too.

 

I almost feel like the City would be best off in the long run just demolishing the stadium and using the colonnades as part of an event space or museum of some sort, while turning the parking lots and stadium area into parkland.

 

The lakefront restrictions are a great thing.

 

I'd be more in favor of those restrictions if they were applied evenly across the Chicagoland area, but it was so dumb to see people throw temper tantrums over the Lucas Museum when north Sheridan road is dotted with some of the ugliest horsefeathering high rise condominiums I've ever seen directly on the lakefront.

[UMFan83]

It's already the Big Museum neighborhood; put another museum or two there.

 

In a perfect world, I think that'd be great, but we all remember what happened with the Lucas Museum.

 

Seems like a similar situation to the Lucas Museum except that museum was going to be built on a parking lot essentially, and this hypothetical museum would be built in place of an existing structure. Not sure if that changes the "Friends of the Parks" case against building anything on the lakefront.

 

Heck even the Obama Presidential Library had years of delays because of NIMBYs that objected to Jackson Park being used. While understanding the desire for park space, it seemed like a no brainer to me to build a presidential library in Chicago but what do I know.

[Sammy Sofa]

I mean, what's wrong if it just ends up being more park space? Parks horsefeathering rule.

[WrigleyField 22]

I mean, what's wrong if it just ends up being more park space? Parks horsefeathering rule.

I think that's fine. A lot comes down to maintenance costs I'm sure. The Fire and some concerts aren't the Bears, but if ticket tax revenue outpaces maintenance then they can just stumble along for a while. If maintenance costs are burdensome, bust out the TNT.

[d_money]

Northwestern announced a new stadium just earlier this week, so they aren’t a potential suitor for SF.

[NOLA]

The only example I can think of is the Cotton Bowl in Dallas which does not currently host any teams and is located in the heart of the city while the NFL Stadium is in the suburbs. I'm not really sure what the purpose of the Cotton Bowl is. It doesn't even host its namesake game anymore, though it does host the Red River Showdown annually between Texas and OU. I'm not sure how its financially viable to upkeep, but at least its located on land less valuable than Soldier Field.

The old Cotton Bowl sits on the Texas State Fair Grounds, so I have to believe the revenue between the stadium and the grounds are connected. Between the two, they have a lot of events.

 

Could always pull a Memphis. When they built the Fedex Forum and the Grizzlies left the Pyramid, they turned that monstrosity into a Bass ProShop.