Toyota Park

Former names	Bridgeview Stadium
Location	7300 West 71st Street, Bridgeview, Illinois 60455-3106
Coordinates	41°45′53″N 87°48′22″W / 41.76472°N 87.80611°W / 41.76472; -87.80611Coordinates: 41°45′53″N 87°48′22″W / 41.76472°N 87.80611°W / 41.76472; -87.80611
Broke ground	November 30, 2004
Opened	June 11, 2006
Owner	Village of Bridgeview
Operator	Andell Holdings
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$98 million
Architect	Rossetti Architects
Capacity	Soccer: 20,000 Concerts: 28,000
Field dimensions	120 x 75 yards
Tenants
Chicago Fire (MLS) (2006-present) Chicago Machine (MLL) (2007-present) Chicago Red Stars (WPS) (2009- )

Toyota Park is a soccer-specific stadium located at 71st Street and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, Illinois. It is the home stadium of the Chicago Fire, members of Major League Soccer (MLS). Toyota Park was developed at a cost of around $100 million. The facility opened June 11, 2006.

The Village of Bridgeview recently approved development on 8 acres (32,000 m²) of the stadium site near the corner of 71st and Harlem for two mid-range hotels, an indoor water park, four to six restaurants, and other retail to begin construction in late 2007.^[1] As of March 2009, no construction has yet occurred.

Toyota Park also hosts the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse, and the Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer. Only the stadium's east end stands are used for these events.^[2]

The stadium hosted its first competitive international with a 2010 World Cup qualifying match between USA and Trinidad and Tobago.

[edit] The stadium

Designed to incorporate traditional stadium features from both American and European facilities, Toyota Park includes mostly covered seating, a brick facade and stone entry archway, and first rows that are less than three yards from the field. It also includes 42 executive suites, 6 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, one turf) for the Fire club and its youth programs is adjacent to the stadium. The stadium's design is expandable to 30,000 seats without great cost for future growth. The natural grass stadium field includes a $1.7 million turf management system including full heating, drainage, and aeration capabilities and measures 120 yards (110 m) long by 75 yards (69 m) wide.

A permanent stage was incorporated into the stadium design to not only facilitate hosting concerts but also to be able to quickly change from stage configuration to soccer configuration and vice-versa. A typical conversion takes less than 18 hours to complete, and an additional 8,000 chairback seats can be accommodated on the field for concerts and other stage events. One such happening was the Crossroads Guitar Festival which was held on July 28, 2007.

In 2006, Toyota announced that it had entered into a 10-year naming rights agreement and the stadium was renamed Toyota Park.^[3]

Also in 2006, it hosted its first international rugby match, USA vs Munster. In 2009, it hosted USA vs Ireland.

[edit] Accessibility

Pace operates the #387 Toyota Park Express nonstop from the Midway Orange Line Station for Chicago Fire matches and special events. ^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Toyota Park Official Website
• Stadium Site at chicago-fire.com