Every modern touch and amenity of the Bears' new 162,500-square-foot football operations facility is now ready ahead of the regular season -- or so McCaskey hoped as he walked to the door and the one last addition he had yet to test out.
"This is the big moment," McCaskey said, still unsure if his key card would properly swipe.
Sure enough, the doors opened for McCaskey. Inside is everything the organization had envisioned in its north suburban home, with the homages of the team's past to those essential comforts needed today.
These days, the Bears walk into the building through a hallway that illuminates the team's 14 retired numbers. They turn right into a new cafeteria and lounge or left toward their 1,700-square-foot locker room, one that now includes a barbershop.
The weight room has now increased by 2,000 square feet, the recovery and nutrition stations have doubled in size and the sports medicine area is now four times larger and includes two hydrotherapy pools, two plunge pools, a float pod, a sauna and steam room.
All that was brought in to the new football operations branch of Halas Hall is designed to enhance the team's work and cater to players amid a long season.
It was long overdue.
"I feel like they're giving Alabama a run for their money," said Bears safety Eddie Jackson, a former standout with the Crimson Tide.
Before the Bears broke ground on the Halas Hall expansion in March 2018, they were lacking many of the in-house resources that other NFL teams could boast. The entire building was 143,000 square feet and housed the entire organization, including departments on the business side.
This expansion wasn't created to bring the Bears a country club. The amenities create comfort away from the practice field but also offer space that allows game preparation to go beyond its previous limitations. Outside of position group meeting rooms is an indoor turf space that allows walk-through work after watching film.
After the Bears invested in the tandem of general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy in January 2018, they prepared to pour resources into their home base. Now they're in a window of championship contention with a facility expansion that represents part of that opportunity.
"Every day you pull on in here, you’re just so thankful," Nagy said. "You know that you have top-of-the-line in everything. No matter where it is, whether it’s the hydrotherapy pools for the players, whether it’s the training room, the weight room, the coaches' offices, the players' offices, the cafeteria, I mean, it’s just first-class."
Whether it's McCaskey, Pace, Nagy or any player on the roster, the walk downstairs to the main lobby reminds what the Bears are working toward. There are images from the franchise's century-old past and relics of some great days. One item that wasn't touched during the renovation was the Bears' lone Lombardi Trophy.
Now, Halas Hall serves both as museum to Bears history and a newly modernized facility fit for a championship contender.