Another South Side Stadium Will Fly a Financial Flag
Fifteen days after the White Sox ballpark officially became Guaranteed Rate Field, another nearby sporting palace has gotten a new name. The DePaul University basketball arena, formerly known as the McCormick Place Events Center, will now be known as the Wintrust Arena. It’s hardly the first time that a home-grown financial powerhouse has used sports to leave national audiences scratching their heads. In addition to the...
White Sox Hang Up on U.S. Cellular, Score Points With Mortgage Company
Four years after U.S. Cellular exited the Chicago market (but still kept its headquarters here), the mobile phone company’s name is going to come off of the White Sox’ ballpark. Effective November first, U.S. Cellular Field becomes Guaranteed Rate Field, named for the mortgage company that ponied up untold millions of dollars for the naming rights to the south side stadium through 2029. Removing the U.S. Cellular...
Blue Demons’ New Home Being Built With Blue Steel
The expansion of the McCormick Place convention center to include a new flagship hotel and arena continues to transform the South Loop south of the Prairie Avenue District. While the Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed Event Center remains officially a multi-purpose facility that will be able to host smaller conventions that would normally skip Chicago, it will also be home to the DePaul University Blue Demons basketball team. And...
Neighbor News: Detroit Plans for an MLS District
Our neighbors to the east are planning to build not just a Major League Soccer stadium, but an entire district around the 25,000 seat stadium. Detroit architecture firm Rossetti has unveiled its plans for a new downtown stadium, accompanied by four residential, office, and hotel towers; along with retail and parking facilities. The city and other stakeholders still have to sign off on the project, which would be located on the site...
Neighbor News: Valhalla on the Prairie
If you’re not into football, or hotdish, you might not know that the Minnesota Vikings are building a new stadium in Minneapolis. Gold Coast Spy Darcie happened to be up there recently, and sent in these pictures of the construction progress. Branded the U.S. Bank Stadium (Take that, U.S. Cellular Field!), the stadium is currently at the point where the last of the roof supports are going in. And unlike its predecessor the...
Status Update: The Please-Don’t-Call-It-DePaul-Arena
Demolition work is just about complete at 2130 South Prairie Avenue, where the new DePaul Arena McCormick Place Events Center will soon be built. The Chicago Architecture Blog’s Daniel Schell darted by the future Demon Dome recently as crews were taking the last few bites out of an existing unloved one-story building. You’ll remember it was just six months ago that clearing space for this multi-purpose facility got...
It’s Chicago vs St. Louis This Weekend — In Baseball and Architecture
With the hubbub surrounding the controversial Wrigley Field renovation, this year, opening day for the Chicago Cubs is more exciting than usual. On Sunday night, Cubs fans will turn their attention to brand-new video boards, bleachers under construction and the face-off between Cubs pitcher Jon Lester and Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright. At The Chicago Architecture Blog, we mark the start of the baseball season with a quick look at...
In The Year The Cubs Finally Seem Ready, Wrigley Is Not
When I wandered around Wrigley Field (1060 West Addison Street) last fall, just after our beloved bleachers were reduced to scrap, I marveled at the task at hand, impressed such destruction could be rebuilt in time for Opening Day 2015. Well, send me to Triple AAA and call me naïve. Because sure enough, as you no doubt are aware by now, nary a fan shall catch a home run ball within the Friendly Confines until at least May. In...
Eviscerating an Old Friend
The billion-dollar transformation of venerable* Wrigley Field (1060 West Addison Street) continues, with major changes evident from the outset. We’ve been to the Wrigley renovation rodeo before, and knew for a long time that the changes would be dramatic, but there’s still something disturbing about seeing diggers hacking the venerable ballpark to pieces before our eyes. Chicago Architecture Blog photographer...
Status Update: Wrigley Growing Larger
The venerable ivy-festooned baseball park known as Wrigley Field is getting bigger. You’ll remember that as part of the latest renovation plan, the Cubs are buying some city rights-of-way, since the stadium at 1060 West Addison Street has pretty much maxed out the block it sits on. Here’s the update from the ball club: Portions of Waveland and Sheffield avenues will be closed as part of a land transfer from the City of...
