The Chicago Bears announced a proposal on April 24 to build a $4.6-billion domed stadium on property in the city's Museum Campus overlooking Lake Michigan. Insisting it no longer plans to build a stadium in the suburbs, the team said it would demolish its current home, Soldier Field, which was reconstructed in 2003, and replace it with gardens and athletic fields.
The team worked with Kansas City-based architectural firm Manica to create plans for the 77,000-seat proposed stadium that would be owned by the Chicago Park District. The team wants to pay for the stadium with $2.3 billion of private funding -- including a $300-million loan from the National Football League -- and $2.3 billion in public funding that would need approval by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which was created in 1987 for constructing and renovating professional sports stadiums in the state.
Photo courtesy of Clayco
Girls from throughout the St. Louis area were introduced to careers in construction in April when they visited construction firm Clayco. Taking part in Bring a Girl to Clayco Day, 60 girls, in 6th through 12th grade, learned about the many different paths that a construction career can offer.
The day was packed with interactive activities and included visits to various departments at the firm: operations and safety, preconstruction, legal, marketing, Clayco real estate group, virtual design construction and architecture/interiors/landscaping/sustainability.
In operations and safety, for instance, the girls participated in a hands-on pull-planning session and learned the different safety rules and PPE that are used on construction jobsites. In virtual design construction, they donned VDC headsets and walked through a virtual jobsite to see a building built before it even broke ground.
The event reflects Clayco's support of diversity. "Building an inclusive team strengthens our culture and brings a diversity of ideas to solve our customers' most complicated problems," said Bob Clark, Clayco's president and founder.