Chicago should explore putting a roof over Soldier Field and other stadium enhancements, according to a report from a group tasked by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot with making strategic improvements to the 57-acre museum campus that houses the Chicago Bears’ home.
While the proposals cut across the entirety of the campus, it’s the Soldier Field recommendations that are likely to garner the most attention. Lightfoot installed the working
The “Where Worlds Connect” report seeks to enhance the area just south of Chicago’s downtown along the Lake Michigan shoreline as “a more accessible, relevant, and attractive” campus year round that can also serve as a nature retreat.
“The museum campus working group has provided us with a useful framework to guide that work, as well as to enhance the campus overall,” Lightfoot said in a statement that lacked information on next steps. "This report will also ensure our vision is aligned when it comes to creating a more enriching and rewarding museum campus experience for all who visit.
The campus houses the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium, Soldier Field, and the Lakeside Center of McCormick Place convention center. It also includes natural and recreational areas including the 12th Street Beach, Northerly Island Park, and the Lakefront Trail.
The proposal recommends exploring addition of a roof to the stadium that first opened in 1924 to allow for greater year-round use, expanding concourses, and updating the seating configuration as well as shifting from grass to synthetic turf.
“These recommendations aim at strengthening the role and uniqueness of Solider Field as an NFL stadium for decades to come but, at the same time, can be adapted to enable a modern and versatile utilization of Soldier Field even under different scenarios,” the report said. A roof would “allow Chicago to host coveted one-off events such as the Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four Championship.”
To help pay for some of the various upgrades, the city could explore a naming rights deal or sponsorship. Deals elsewhere have generated as much as $400 million overall. But any deal would have to be done in a way that honors the stadium’s existing name, which serves as a memorial to war veterans, the report noted.
While stadium experts have said the potential price tag for upgrades and roof could exceed a billion dollars, the report doesn’t offer a price tag or lay out any further financing ideas. “Although enclosing Soldier Field would incur significant investment, further analysis is required to fully understand the specific costs, the potential direct and indirect economic impacts, and the full range of potential funding sources available to determine options that are respectful to Chicago taxpayers,” the report reads.
Mesirow Financial Chair Richard Price headed up the working group while public finance professionals Martin Cabrera, chief executive officer of Cabrera Capital Markets, and David Narefsky, a partner at Mayer Brown, were among the 23-member group.
The Bears threw cold water on the ideas. “The only potential project the Chicago Bears are exploring for a new stadium development is Arlington Park. As part of our mutual agreement with the seller of that property, we are not pursuing alternative stadium deals or sites, including renovations to Soldier Field, while we are under contract,” the team’s statement read.
The Bears signed a purchase agreement last year to buy the racetrack land for $197 million but it’s not yet been finalized.
The Chicago Park District-owned Soldier Field is currently home to the Bears and Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire. It was renovated in 2003, financed in part with a $415 million bond issue sold through the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.
The debt is repaid from a local hotel sales tax and a city and state subsidy, each for $5 million. Under the complex financing and security structure, the state actually advances a portion of its own hotel tax collections to cover debt service, but the sports authority must then repay the state with its own hotel tax collections. Should the authority's hotel taxes fall short of what's needed to repay the state then Chicago is on the hook to cover that shortage.
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Most of remaining Illinois Sports Facilities Authority debt is tied to the Bears, but the potential departure of the team does not pose a ratings threat. “Should the team opt to leave early or not renew, ISFA bonds currently mature in 2032, and are not dependent upon activity in stadium,” S&P said last year. The Bears face a fiscal penalty if they exit the lease before it expires in 2033.
S&P rates the ISFA debt at BBB-minus. The rating agency caps the rating at one notch above the state under its priority lien criteria that takes into account the credit quality of the obligor where taxes are distributed and/or collected and the strength of the security pledged. That means the bonds could be rated at a high of A-minus because the state is at BBB-plus.
Fitch Ratings rates the debt at BB-plus and caps the rating at one notch below the state putting a ceiling of BBB on the rating as the state is at BBB-plus.
“The BBB'-plus rating and stable outlook on the ISFA bonds reflects the weaker of the two dedicated tax pledges supporting the bonds, state hotel tax collections,” Fitch said in a June 30 report affirming the rating. “Projected coverage from state hotel tax collections is narrow, offset by strong performance in recent months, acceleration of reopening in the leisure and hospitality industry and additional support in the form of a state subsidy and available reserves.”
