Toyota Park (Bridgeview)
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| Toyota Park | |
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| Location | 7300 West 71st Street Bridgeview, Illinois 60455-3106 |
| Broke ground | November 30, 2004 |
| Opened | June 11, 2006 |
| Owner | Village of Bridgeview |
| Operator | Andell Holdings |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $98 million US |
| Architect | Rossetti architects |
| Former names | Bridgeview Stadium |
| Tenants | Chicago Fire (MLS) (2006-Present) Chicago Machine (MLL) (2007-Present) Chicago Red Stars (WPS) (2009-Future) |
| Capacity | 20,000 (soccer) 28,000 (concerts) |
Toyota Park is the home stadium for the Chicago Fire Soccer Club, members of Major League Soccer. Located at 71st Street and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, Illinois, it is a soccer-specific stadium and concert venue developed at a cost of more than $100 million. The facility opened June 11, 2006.
The Village of Bridgeview recently approved development on 8 acres of the stadium site near the corner of 71st and Harlem for two midrange hotels, an indoor water park, four to six restaurants, and other retail to begin construction in late 2007.[1]
Toyota Park also hosts the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse, and will be the home of the Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer beginning in the 2009 season. Only the stadium's east end stands are used for lacrosse. [2]
[edit] The stadium
Designed to incorporate traditional stadium features from both American and European facilities, Toyota Park includes mostly covered seating, a brick façade and stone entry archway, and first rows that are less than three yards from the field. It also includes 42 executive suites, 6 larger party suites, the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame, and the Fire club offices in the stadium as well as a large stadium club facility measuring some 9,000 square feet.
A practice facility with two fields (one natural grass, one turf) for the Fire club and its youth programs is adjacent to the stadium. According to statements by Fire President John Guppy, the stadium's design has the planned-in ability for expansion to 30,000 seats without great cost in anticipation of future attendance growth. The natural grass stadium field includes a a $1.7 million turf management system including full heating, drainage, and aeration capabilities and measures 120 yards long by 75 yards wide.
A permanent stage was incorporated into the stadium design to not only facilitate hosting concerts but also to be able to quickly change from stage configuration to soccer configuration and vice-versa. A typical conversion takes less than 18 hours to complete, and an additional 8,000 chairback seats can be accommodated on the field for concerts and other stage events.
Stadium naming rights were reportedly agreed upon as early as summer 2005 with Bridgeview Bank Group to name the facility Bridgeview Bank Stadium, but talks repeatedly broke down and subsequently reopened. In 2006, Toyota announced that it had entered into a 10-year naming rights agreement with the Village of Bridgeview, as the stadium was renamed Toyota Park.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ First came the Fire, next comes the water. dailysouthtown.com. Retrieved on January 3, 2007.
- ^ Seating Chart. chicagomachine.com. Retrieved on June 12, 2007.
- ^ Toyota Purchases Naming Rights For Stadium. mlsnet.com. Retrieved on June 9, 2006.
http://chicago.fire.mlsnet.com/t100/imgs/stadium/2008/main.jpg
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Soldier Field |
Home of Chicago Fire 2006 – present |
Succeeded by current home |
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