Toyota Park in March 2013
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Former names | Bridgeview Stadium |
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Address | 7000 South Harlem Avenue |
Location | Bridgeview, Illinois |
Coordinates | 41°45′53″N 87°48′22″W / 41.76472°N 87.80611°WCoordinates: 41°45′53″N 87°48′22″W / 41.76472°N 87.80611°W |
Owner | Village of Bridgeview |
Operator | Village of Bridgeview |
Capacity |
Soccer: 20,000 Concerts: 28,000 |
Field size | 120 x 75 yards |
Surface | Kentucky Bluegrass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | November 30, 2004 |
Opened | June 11, 2006 |
Construction cost | $98 million ($116 million in 2016 dollars) |
Architect | Rossetti Architects |
Project manager | ICON Venue Group |
Structural engineer | John A. Martin & Associates |
Services engineer | A. Epstein & Sons International |
General contractor | Turner Construction |
Tenants | |
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Toyota Park is a soccer-specific stadium at 71st Street and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, Illinois, about twelve miles southwest of downtown Chicago. It is the home stadium of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club of Major League Soccer (MLS), the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), and the Chicago Bliss of the Legends Football League (LFL). The stadium has also hosted the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse. Toyota Park was developed at a cost of around $100 million, with a capacity of 20,000. The facility opened June 11, 2006.
Incorporating traditional stadium features from American and European facilities, Toyota Park includes predominantly covered seating, a brick facade and stone entry archway, and first rows placed fewer than three yards from the field. It includes forty two executive suites, six larger party suites, the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame, and the Fire club offices, as well as a large stadium club/banquet room measuring over 9,000 square feet (840 m2).
A practice facility with two fields (one natural grass; the other artificial turf) for the Fire club and its youth programs lies next to the stadium. The stadium's design allows expansion of 50% more seating at negligible expense. Its 120 yard by 75 yard natural grass field's $1.7 million turf management system comprises full heating, drainage, and aeration capabilities.
A permanent stage allows the stadium to host concerts and quickly change configurations. A typical conversion from soccer to stage takes no more than eighteen hours. The field accommodates eight thousand additional chairback seats for concerts and other stage events.
In 2006, Toyota entered into a ten-year naming rights agreement and renamed the new stadium Toyota Park. In August 2016, it was announced in the local news circulars that Toyota chose not to renew the naming rights. The stadium will still be known as Toyota Park for the foreseeable future, as no new naming rights agreements have been announced.