Zapata's design was recently approved by
the city's Planning Commission, to be financed by a hotel tax,
bonds, and the Chicago Bears, the primary user of Soldier Field.
The city's decision drew a lawsuit by the Friends of the Park,
citing that the design breaks the law that protects the lakefront
from private development and defaces a historically-registered
structure. The design attempts to respond to the latter by inserting
the new structure within the old and keeping the signature colonnade
to the west, though it is obviously driven by the former, the
design dictated by sight lines and other requirements for NFL
games. The city and the Park District's statements that the stadium
will be available to the public outside of the ten days for Bears
games and will give back to the city with additional park land
(over parking garages) and a new memorial for the armed forces
are clearly political and questionable.
