All Blacks: First look at Soldier Field

Travelling All Blacks fans got their first look inside Soldier Field today and left impressed.

The stadium will host the All Blacks-USA test on Saturday afternoon local time and marquees were being erected at the adjacent Burnham Park for the pre- and post-game festivities.

But the stadium itself will be one of the stars of the show. Opened in 1924, it serves as not only a sporting and entertainment arena, but also as a memorial to soldiers who have died serving the United States military.

So far the city of Chicago, which owns the park, and the Chicago Bears, the major tenant, have resisted the urge to brand it after a telecommunications company or bank, and long may that continue.

The stadium once housed anywhere up to about 120,000 - 123,000 watched Notre Dame beat the University of Southern California in 1927.

The capacity has been greatly reduced to about 62,000 after the interior was gutted early this century and a new stadium was essentially built within the classic old Greco-Roman walls. It was hugely controversial and the move was lampooned by local architectural critics, but it is now considered a classic of its kind.

Tom McKenna, a former Chicago policeman turned tour guide, said the reduced capacity has added revenue, not taken away.

The more than 100 executive suites generate the sort of income that would only be possible with the equivalent of 193,000 seats, he said.

The highlight of the trip for most was the chance to get a look around the "locker room" the All Blacks will use this weekend. Normally the visitors' changing rooms, the lockers and interspersed with memorabilia, usually jerseys, from famous visiting players and, just to remind everybody whose ground it is, one each of legendary Bears' defenders Dick Butkus and Brian Urlacher.

There is talk that the All Blacks will leave a jersey for posterity at the end of their match.

* Dylan Cleaver travelled to Chicago with All Blacks Tours. Go to www.allblackstours.com to book World Cup packages.