MLS Chicago Fire FC

Bridgeview Village Council Formally Approves Chicago Fire Stadium MOU

Published on February 6, 2004 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release


CHICAGO, IL (Friday, February 6, 2004) - After announcing a preliminary agreement with the Village of Bridgeview for the construction of a 20,000-25,000-seat world-class soccer stadium in Bridgeview last month, the Chicago Fire and its parent company, AEG, announced today that the Village of Bridgeview Village Council has unanimously approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the parties. "This formal approval from the council is another important step to reaching our target of a spring 2006 opening," said Fire General Manager Peter Wilt. "The support we've received from Bridgeview in particular and the Southland in general has been wonderful."

The new stadium will be located at 79th and Harlem on approximately 60 acres. The Fire will operate as the stadium's primary tenant, and the site will house the team's offices and official team training center with an additional training field to be built adjacent to the stadium. The stadium is expected to create more than 700 construction jobs, and nearly 350 new jobs -- 100 of them full time -- will be required for the operation of the facility once it opens. In addition, the activity brought by the stadium is expected to help inject more than 200 jobs in the local economy.

"We're ecstatic about the Fire's decision to call Bridgeview home and are eager to move forward with this project," said Village of Bridgeview Mayor Steve Landek. "This is the culmination of months and months of hard work. We're looking forward to helping the Fire expand its fan base out here and building a top-notch stadium that will give the entire Southland region a sense of pride."

During the development process, the Fire will spend its 2004 and 2005 seasons at New Soldier Field, where it hosted two regular season games and two playoff matches last fall. The Fire played at Soldier Field from 1998 to 2001, and was forced to play at North Central College's Cardinal Stadium in Naperville, where the team spent the 2002 and most of the 2003 seasons, as the lakefront venue underwent renovations.

The Fire will open the 2004 season at New Soldier Field against San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad) in the return leg of the 2004 CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday, Mar. 24 (Time TBD). The defending Eastern Conference champion Fire will kick off its seventh MLS campaign on the road on Saturday, Apr. 3 at the Kansas City Wizards at 7:30 p.m. CT from Arrowhead Stadium.

Based in the capital of the Midwest, the Chicago Fire was founded on October 8, 1997 as a Major League Soccer expansion team. In 2003 the Fire was crowned Eastern Conference Champion and captured its third Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The team also won its first MLS Supporters' Shield after posting the best overall regular season record. The Fire won the MLS Cup in its inaugural season in 1998 and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 1998 and 2000. It was crowned Central Division Champion in 2000 and 2001.

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