Commissioned by the Chicago Bears, a consulting team of investors, realtors, architects and engineers prepared a study of the proposed 1,100 acre Planet Park, located 18 miles south of Chicago in Gary, Indiana. The Park, a richly varied family resort, is to serve four million annual visitors a year, offering a broad range of events and attractions.

The four main components of the project are The Bears Stadium, the Midway Complex, an upscale Street Mall, and a Family Resort. The Bears Stadium is the centerpiece of the resort set into the park-like environment of "Planetary Gardens" and "Fountain Lake." The "Midway" at the heart of the Event Park is a continuous, tent-shaded pedestrian space for both impromptu and formal events. It also serves as the entrance to four major family restaurants arranged around the stadium. The 1,000,000 square-foot Food and Entertainment Complex, offering value and diversity, is focused around an International Food Court, a Broadcast Center and Video Studio, Cinema City, Music Clubs, and The Bears' Hall of Fame. A network of roads, streets and highway access points as well as 25,000 on-site parking spaces distributed conveniently to all attractions support all of these components.

Scott Wilson, AIA and Scott Butler, AIA served as consultants to Thompson and Wood Architects for the master planning.

Project Info
Cost: Study
Complete: 1995
Scope: Master Planning
Client: Chicago Bears
Staff: Scott Wilson, AIA; Scott Butler, AIA

master planning

commercial / retail