Weekly update: Fire keeping busy

the future home of the Chicago Fire -- has approved the hiring of Turner Construction Company and Rossetti to oversee the construction and architecture projects, respectively, for Bridgeview's $70 million, 20,000-seat, world-class soccer stadium that will house the Major League Soccer team permanently, with a targeted move-in date of Spring 2006. The stadium is scheduled to break ground later this fall. Chicago-based Turner Construction, which managed the highly acclaimed Soldier Field renovations, will handle the administration of the construction project and oversee all the trade contractors. Turner Chicago has played a major part in shaping skylines in and outside of Chicago, and is responsible for the construction of more than 100 buildings in Cook County, the collar counties and beyond. Based in Michigan, Rossetti is the leading sports architecture firm in America. Rossetti is responsible for designing America's most ambitious soccer stadium to date - The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA - and has also designed several other innovative sports venues, such as the Palace at Auburn Hills (NBA), Corel Center (NHL), Ford Field (NFL), and USTA Arthur Ashe Stadium.

FireWorks for Kids Foundation to host Chicagoland premiere of "Christmas with the Kranks" on Nov. 23
After its successful event surrounding the film "Mona Lisa Smile" last November, the FireWorks for Kids Foundation - the charitable arm of the Chicago Fire - announced last week that it will be hosting another Chicagoland movie premiere during the holidays, this time for the new Revolution Films movie "Christmas with the Kranks." The special event will take place on Nov. 23 at the Regal Cinemas in Lincolnshire, Ill., and all proceeds from the movie premiere will go towards the FireWorks for Kids Foundation. The film, a new holiday-themed comedy based on John Grisham's novel Skipping Christmas, stars Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dan Akroyd and is scheduled for a nationwide release on Nov. 24. To receive more information on the event, please call the FireWorks for Kids Foundation office at 312-705-7260 or 312-705-7218, or visit the Community section of www.Chicago-Fire.com in the upcoming weeks for more details.

Etc.

The Fire family would like to send happy birthday wishes to M/F Nate Jaqua. The versatile, attacking player from Eugene, Ore., will turn 23 years old this Thursday.

The Fire itself will be celebrating a birthday of sorts, as this Oct. 30 will mark the second anniversary of the team's groundbreaking partnership with its Mexican League sister team Monarcas Morelia. The Fire would like to thank its partners from Morelia for another successful year and looks forwards to the start of another trailblazing 12 months together.

The Chicago Fire would like to congratulate the three finalists of the Xplosion Rockera 2004 - Zamanadoque Tarahum, Malafacha, and Nitzaye - and thank local bands Crather, Plural, Nañuco, and guest band Los Pecados de Maria for participating in the "Battle of the Bands" show held on Oct. 15 at La Justicia. The final show featuring the three finalists will be held in Chicago later this month at a venue to be announced. Xplosion Rockera 2004 is sponsored by Budweiser and Viva 93.5 y 103.1FM.

A 2-1 victory at home last Wednesday over Jaguares pushed Monarcas Morelia's unbeaten streak to seven games, but nothing could last forever, as the "Monarchs" fell on the road by a similar score to Monterrey at Tecnologico Stadium last Saturday. The split was good enough to keep Morelia (4-5-3) in a third-place tie alongside U.A.G. (4-5-3), with both teams at 15 points, placing them within one favorable result of both Group One leader Pumas (6-6-0, 18 pts.) and second-place Atlante (5-6-1, 16 pts.) in the 2004 COMEX Apertura season. Morelia will return to action this Sunday, Oct. 31 when they host Necaxa (4-6-2, 14 pts.) at Morelos Stadium in Morelia at 4 p.m. CT.