Northwestern offers glimpse inside new Ryan Field, slated to open in 2026
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- Northwestern University on Monday provided a glimpse into its plans for the new and improved Ryan Field.
Renderings issued Monday showed what the new stadium will look like once the $800 million stadium is finished.
The Evanston stadium will seat 35,000 people—all of whom Northwestern said will have "better-than-TV sightlines." The seating capacity is also engineered to create "powerful home-field sound advantage," Northwestern said.
The stadium also has almost twice the required amount of seating for those with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Northwestern has in mind that the stadium will not only serve as the home field for Wildcats football, but also a premier destination for national events, youth sports championships, and other uses. Northwestern is calling the new stadium "Chicago's Big Ten Stadium."
There will also be four premium clubs. The renderings showed one club, the East Club, featuring a patio and a cavernous interior space and something of a rustic aesthetic.
The renderings also seemed to envision for the new Ryan Field something similar to Gallagher Way alongside Wrigley Field—with a Wildcat Village, movies in the park, and a space for a Christkindlmarket event and an ice-skating rink in the winter.
The Evanston City Council approved the Ryan Field reconstruction and plan for concerts about a year ago.
The approval came after Northwestern sweetened the deal for the City of Evanston following some major community pushback. The university said it would pay the city more than $150 million a year to the City of Evanston—up from $100 million over 10 years.
In February of this year, the Village of Wilmette also approved the Ryan Field project, despite complaints about potential noise and traffic from construction and concerts at the stadium.
The old Ryan Field, formerly Dyche Stadium, was demolished earlier this year. The stadium had stood since 1926.
The new stadium will be built at the same site in Evanston at Central Street and Ashland Avenue—a different street from Chicago's Ashland Avenue that lines up roughly with Chicago's Maplewood Avenue.
The new Ryan Field is slated to open in 2026. The project is almost entirely privately funded by the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan family, who are also minority owners of the Chicago Bears.
