SOUTH LOOP — The city is floating contingency plans for Solider Field as the Bears move closer to leaving their longtime home.
Chicago Park District officials are pitching state lawmakers on capital improvements to Solider Field, 1410 Special Olympics Drive, that will keep the 101-year-old stadium running as a year-round concert and event venue, even if the Bears skip town to build new digs in suburban Arlington Heights or Hammond, Indiana.
The future of Soldier Field carries high stakes for the Park District, which counts the stadium as its largest source of non-tax revenue — paying for the annual equivalent of all city lifeguards, camp counselors, park attendants, laborers and maintenance staff, according to a pitch deck reviewed by Block Club.
“A lakefront stadium is critical to the Park District’s mission,” according to the Park District presentation. “A lakefront stadium on Park District land must continue to sustain park operations and public services citywide, while supporting Chicago’s local tourism economy.”
The Park District is looking to fund “priority projects” in and around the stadium, including public transit upgrades plus car and foot traffic easements in the Museum Campus. Also on the wish list is renovations to Soldier Field’s backstage area, locker rooms, practice spaces and seat layout.
The improvement plan comes with an anticipated price tag of $630 million, according to Fox32, which first reported on the Park District’s plans.
The Bears could help get the project started. The team owes the Park District nearly $90 million if they break their lease at Solider Field, which runs through 2033, according to the Sun-Times.
The post-Bears proposal comes as the charter NFL franchise advances its pursuit of a new stadium.
Soldier Field is seen ahead of a NFL Divisional Round game between the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Talia Sprague/Block Club Chicago) Credit: Block Club Chicago
Indiana state legislators advanced a measure last week that would clear the way for the team to build a stadium directly across Chicago’s southeast border in Hammond, Indiana.
Bears brass has publicly welcomed the Indiana plan, as it also applies pressure on Illinois state officials to commit public funding to a stadium project on the former racetrack in northwest suburban Arlington Heights.
Now farther afield is a pursuit by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to keep the Bears in their namesake city with a taxpayer-supported $4.7 billion domed stadium on the city’s lakefront. Plans for a revamped Soldier Field were first floated by then-mayor Lori Lightfoot in an effort to keep the Bears in the city.
That plan has been largely spiked by state lawmakers, with Gov. JB Pritzker telling reporters last week that the Bears weren’t going to build a new home in the city proper, according to the Tribune.
“I still believe the best place for the Chicago Bears to be is in the city of Chicago,” Johnson told reporters last week. “Arlington Heights and Indiana, it ain’t Chicago.”
A rendering shows what a Soldier Field dome could look like. Credit: City of Chicago
Park District spokesperson Michele Lemons said in a statement the Bears still “belong in Chicago.”
“At the same time, as stewards of public land and public resources, our responsibility is to ensure that Chicago’s lakefront stadium continues to serve as a strong public asset,” Lemons said.
The Park District’s pitch deck highlighted $124 million in hotel revenue brought in from Taylor Swift and Beyonce’s sold-out concerts at Soldier Field in June 2023 and May 2025, respectively. Concerts and other events are currently prohibited within five days of a Bears home game, according to Fox32.
Bears games make up less than 20 percent of the stadium’s revenue, Lemons said.
Another Soldier Field tenant, the Chicago Fire pro soccer team, has been planning to depart and build its own soccer-specific stadium at the South Loop site known as The 78.
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