[Arlington International Racetrack Blueprint Drawings]

The future home of the Bears?

This scarce collection of plans covering parts of Arlington International Racecourse was compiled by the renowned architecture/engineering firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and printed in the late 1980s (each of the blueprints is dated 1987 or 1988). The track was in the midst of recovery. A devastating fire in 1985 required the erection of temporary bleachers for several seasons – this piece was likely created in conjunction with the renovations that saw the grand 1989 re-opening of Arlington International Racecourse.

Based on the number of pages in the index, this is one of multiple binders that contained the entirety of the drawings prepared by the firm for the project in question. The pages cover the sections labeled Landscape, Architectural, and many of the Interiors. Notable contents include the paddock site plan, skybox designs, ticket booth/arcade details, and even partial plans for the vomitories (sadly, just large passageways). In case the Bears’ stadium deal does fall through – a potential buyer could use these plans to rebuild some of the original structures!