Consecutive December Home Games Damaging To Soldier Field

Bears, Soldier Field Officials Remain In Close Contact Over Maintaining The Facility

The Bears are "in the midst of hosting three consecutive December home games" at Soldier Field, with the "second coming four days after the first, putting unusual stress on a playing surface", according to Neil Hayes of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Soldier Field is resodded "three times each season." But instead of resodding between the hash marks, "where most of the game is played and where most of the damage is done," Soldier Field groundskeeper John Nolan "replaced the sod between the numbers during the most recent excavation in anticipation of December." Nolan: "Grass doesn't grow when it's cold. The field is heated, and we can keep it alive, but it doesn't repair itself." Hayes noted "'alive' seemed an optimistic diagnosis for the bent, brownish-green mat that awaited players" for last Thursday's game against the Saints. Meanwhile, the relationship between the city's Park District, which operates Soldier Field, and the Bears is a "complicated and contentious one." There have been "disputes about who pays for resodding the field before playoff games and who should pay for additional security mandated by the NFL." Nolan and Soldier Field GM Tim LeFevour said that they are in "constant contact" with Bears Senior Dir of Administration John Bostrom and Bears groundskeeper Ken Mrock to "ensure they are maintaining the field to the team's specifications." Mrock: "We are one. We work hand-in-hand and talk about everything" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 12/17).