Completed in 1924 by Chicago's Holabird
and Roche (now Holabird & Root), Soldier Field was dedicated
to the soldiers of the armed forces, particularly of World War
I. The stadium's original design created an opening to the north
to allow for parades and other events to spill inside from the
park, coordinated with the city's intention to keep the lakefront
for public use. The eventual closing of the north end, the later
construction of nearby McCormick Place and Meigs Field, and the
Chicago Bears calling Soldier Field home cemented this mile-and-a-half
stretch of lakefront as a battleground for private/public space
of the lakefront. With McCormick expanding west across Lake Shore
Drive and plans for a nature preserve on Miegs Field when it
closes in a few years, only Soldier Field, and its sea of parking
lots, remains as a cause for lakefront activists to fight against.
