“The birth of Chicago’s lakefront stadium was marked by a nasty squabble over its name. During construction it was prosaically dubbed the ‘Grant Park Stadium.’ The problem arose when it was decided that it ought to commemorate the GIs who served in World War I.
“That led to the name marked in big letters on the stadium’s south wall, ‘Soldier Field’ — a grammatically puzzling moniker that has confounded school teachers and others for the last century.
“Despite the dissonance of its origins, the stadium’s completion was marked by thousands of voices singing in unison, with numbers including ‘The Heavens Declare’ and ‘Beautiful Savior.’ The Sept. 10, 1924, prededication ceremony was illuminated by lanterns carried by 3,000 children. It wasn’t until a little more than a year later that it was officially named Soldier Field.
“The idea of a lakefront stadium had been hatched years earlier. Mayor William Hale Thompson, known as Big Bill, spoke favorably about a municipal stadium. He did so about any project that would detract attention to his sticky fingers in the public till. Big Bill’s first term began in 1915.
“The stadium would be part of a cluster of neoclassical structures emerging on the lakefront site, with the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium just to the north. Thompson envisioned a stadium seating 150,000 and larger than anything ‘the Romans ever built.’
“Chicago scaled back from that idea but retained Thompson’s architectural preference. European architects were inspired by America’s modernist architecture. But in America, Doric columns and Ionic pediments were still considered a class act.
“In ancient Greece, plays and religious ceremonies were staged in open-air theaters. Paying homage, the north end of Soldier Field was left open by William Holabird and Martin Roche, the Chicago architects who won the design competition. Temporary stands could be set up there for additional seating.
“On both sides, the seating sections were topped off by colonnades. Chicagoans were so wowed that Soldier Field was dedicated four times in the first five weeks. Twice more in the next year.
“Notwithstanding the sometimes poor sight lines, beginning in 1927, an annual game between the Chicago public school football champion against the Catholic school champs drew enormous crowds to Soldier Field. Fifty thousand fans saw Mount Carmel defeat Schurz 6-0.
“It held the first International Eucharistic Congress in the United States, drawing Catholics from across the globe to the lakefront in 1926. It was the main stage during the Century of Progress World’s Fair in 1933. It held rodeos, car races, ski-jumping contests and more. And it was the home of the Chicagoland Music Festival, where performers such as Bob Hope and Frankie Avalon wowed large crowds with song and dance, for over 30 years starting in 1930.
“In 1966, on what would become known as Freedom Sunday, civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. told nearly 30,000 people gathered at Soldier Field, “This day we must declare our own Emancipation Proclamation,” In 1968, the stadium would be the birthplace of the Special Olympics.
“But by the end of the 1960s, the large stadium on the lakefront was hosting fewer city events and games. Salvation would come soon after a well-known football team grew too big for its space at Wrigley Field. In 1971, the Bears started what they thought would be a short run at Soldier Field. No one could have imagined the half-century-long partnership that would follow, including an overhaul that was described as a spaceship landing on top of Soldier Field’s classical columns.” (Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 9/3/24)
Read the full story at Chicago Tribune
- A century ago, Soldier Field was born as a lakefront stadium, bolstering Chicago’s image as a world-class city, Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 9/3/24
- OPINION: With stadium plans, the Bears are proposing a barely veiled takeover of the lakefront, Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 9/8/24