<P> The stadium's interior was mostly demolished and rebuilt as part of a major renovation project in 2002, which modernized the facility but lowered seating capacity, while also causing it to be delisted as a National Historic Landmark . Soldier Field has served as the home venue for a number of other sports teams in its history, including the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL, University of Notre Dame football, and the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer, as well as games from the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, and multiple CONCACAF Gold Cup championships . In 1968, it hosted the first Games of the Special Olympics . With a football capacity of 61,500, it is the third - smallest stadium in the NFL . </P> <P> In 2016, Soldier Field became the second - oldest stadium in the league when the Los Angeles Rams began playing temporarily at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which opened a year earlier than Soldier Field . </P> <P> Soldier Field was designed in 1919 and opened on October 9, 1924, as Municipal Grant Park Stadium . The name was changed to Soldier Field on November 11, 1925, as a memorial to U.S. soldiers who had died in combat . Its formal dedication as Soldier Field was on Saturday, November 27, 1926, during the 29th annual playing of the Army--Navy Game . Its design is in the Neoclassical style, with Doric columns rising above the East and West entrances . The stadium cost $13 million to construct ($182 million in 2015 dollars), a very large sum for a sporting venue at that time (in comparison, L.A. Memorial Coliseum had cost less than $1 million in 1923 dollars). </P> <P> In its earliest configuration, Soldier Field was capable of seating 74,280 spectators and was in the shape of a U. Additional seating could be added along the interior field, upper promenades and on the large, open field and terrace beyond the north endzone, bringing the seating capacity to over 100,000 . </P>

Why is the chicago bears stadium called soldier field