McDome was a proposal for a new domed Bears stadium, similar in style to those built in Indianapolis, Minnesota and Detroit. (One of these stadiums is now vacant, the other two have very unhappy tenants and visitors). The dome was proposed to the Illinois Legislature as a part of the McCormick Place expansion plan. Bears President Michael McCaskey aligned with Governor Jim Edgar on the proposal, but the plan was rejected by the Illinois Legislature in late 1990.

But magically, 12 years later Ted Phillips, the team accountant at the time, gets $580 million approved in 60 days from the same politicians. Oh, and the Sox picked up $38 million in that approval.

Point being, Reinsdorf pushed it through as long as No Dome was erected keeping all major concert events at the United Center, costing the City of Chicago Billions over the life of Super Bowls, Final Fours, Political conventions, bowl games, etc.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

BigFan....2 of them are now vacant....RCA Dome and the Silverdome, although I do hear hear that they do have the occasional flea market and tractor pull inside the Silverdome. It sat 80,000, but it a cramped 80,000. Ford Field is absolutely gorgeous, the place the Bears should have instead of the U.S.S. Enterprise saucer crashed into the remains of the original Soldier Field, which is now Soldier Field II. I agree with you; if something similar to Ford Field was built here and opened in '03; there would have been at least one Super Bowl and Final Four on the schedule, if not played by now.

The 2 you state that are empty are only empty as they have been replaced with newer places.

No question we have a final four and a super bowl. Imagine the concerts as well the city has foregone, that Reinsdorf got. U2, Petty, Streisand, Manilow.

Sad thing is now Arie Crown is shutting down, so we have this vacant building that could have been incorporated into an amazing design.

Reinsdorf, Daley, Madigan and the rest of the criminal politcians fucked this up!

THIS IS WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE!
1.Retractable Dome! Move the Columns, put them inside, make a new tribute, but make a dome.
2. $15 mill to Northwestern to improve Ryan Field for the Bears for 2 years.
3. Downtown Casino! Spans the air space over the tracks that everyone walks over.
4. Work on the park/lakefront as they did.
Yes a $1 Bill tag! of which a huge portion if not all might be paid by now from the revenue!
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED
1. $380 million Crap of a new stadium. FYI, smallest capacity in NFL with worst Turf!
2. $38 million to the White Sox? Really? For what? I guess thats what it cost to rent Jerry's Boys
3. $5 million to Olivet for training camp improvements?
4. $5 million to U of I to renovate for Bears games for 1 year

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Wasn't the final cost something closer to $600 million?

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

What irritates me is when Bear fans blame the Bears for this mess. The only choice they had was to take what they were given or move to gary or a suburb. The bad team on the field is the Bear's fault. The field and the stadium are not.

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I know around these parts it is sacrilegious to say so, but I would not have minded the Bears relocating to the 'burbs. SF and the lakefront look great on TV but as an attending fan I would prefer ample parking and easy post-game expressway access.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

park in the millenium garage and take the free shuttle. $20 a car load.

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@audioidkid

Nobody held a gun to the Bears' head to take Soldier Field II as their new home. The problem, more than likely, was financing. If you remember, the Bears had to take a loan from the NFL to put up their share of the money to "refurb" Soldier Field. Revenue sharing, tickets, splitting concessions, parking , suite boxes, ad revenue, sponsorships...I believe that's it. The McCaskeys just did not have the liquidity to build their own stadium. In the long run, and maybe this was discussed, it would have been better to build their own place. They wouldn't have to share any revenue with the CPD, which is more money they could put back into the team. The obvious reason, out of all of the reasons, the franchise worth. Your telling me the Bears wouldn't be worth more than the Redskins if the Bears had their own facility? Their is just too much in fighting within that family. So many of the grandkids want or have sold their shares to get the money already and then you have other kids (Michael, comes to mind) that are angling to get control of the team when Virginia passes. But then you have the two absentee minority owners (McKenna & Ryan) who have never said one word about "their" team, which I find interesting. They also have a right of first refusal or option to buy the team should if ever go on the selling block. It's a mess. I think the only way the McCaskeys would have been able to come up with cash to build a nicer, larger facility is that they would have all had to consolidate their stock and had a stock offering to raise funds. It's just a mess..."new" Soldier Field and ownership.

Park Around Lake/Ashland for free, and take Green Line to Roosevelt.

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And risk your car being held up my milkcrates when you come back


Cutler's INTs were also Reinsdorf's fault.

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Thanks but cannot bbq in a garage, in the street and on most surface lots; the shuttle back to millenium is brutal, and neither solves the hour plus post-game crawl back to Arlington.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."