Chicago Fire has completed a number of improvements to its former home ground SeatGeek Stadium, which now serves as a training hub for the Major League Soccer (MLS) team.
The club, which now plays home games at the city’s famous Soldier Field stadium, has completed work on the locker room, workout space, video room, players’ lounge among other areas at SeatGeek Stadium.
The changes are part of an overhaul of the team’s operations since billionaire tycoon Joe Mansueto bought the club last September.
Speaking about the changes, Fire’s new sporting director Georg Heitz told the Chicago Sun-Times: “It was a completely new place for us. It was completely renovated. Joe invested a lot there. Just for an example, the video room looks a bit like a cinema. It’s really night and day. It’s really a complete change of this location. It is clear we will improve more.”
The first team locker room has been reconfigured and modernised while the coaches’ room has new space and the available workout space has been tripled. Refueling and wet room space for physical therapy staff has been added.
There is also a new video room with stadium seating, while the players’ lounge has been renovated. The home auxiliary dressing room has 22 new lockers for academy players, and 9,000 feet of space for what was once the front office has been replaced by room for soccer operations.
Chicago Fire played its MLS games at the 20,000-capacity SeatGeek Stadium between the ground being opened in 2006 and 2019, when the team relocated to Soldier Field, the 61,500-capacity home of the NFL’s Chicago Bears.
The MLS season is currently suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Image: Chicago Fire
Share this