Chicago Blackhawks Kick-Start Training Center Construction

By Ioana Neamt

United Center Chicago

Chicago—The Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey team will soon get a new state-of-the-art Community Training Center on the city’s Near West Side. Mayor Emanuel, together with Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz, broke ground this week on a 125,000-square-foot facility located just two blocks south of Chicago’s United Center, on a 4-acre site that used to house the Malcolm X College.

The $55 million training center will house year-round youth hockey development programs, recreational leagues and events, while also serving as the practice facility for the Blackhawks and visiting NHL teams.

“This new facility is a win for the Chicago Blackhawks and win for Chicago’s youth,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “This training center will be a community hub, providing programs for young people and opportunities for the neighborhood.”

“This facility will serve as the new epicenter for hockey development in Chicago,” added Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz. “While benefiting the Chicago Blackhawks, the vast majority of time the ice will be used by adult, youth and recreational leagues, and programs that support hockey development for underprivileged youth throughout the city.”

The team’s new training center is set to incorporate two NHL regulation-size ice rinks, spectator seating and a dedicated oasis parking lot for facility guests and buses. The project is expected to create 21 permanent jobs and 250 construction jobs, and is scheduled for completion in December 2017. The center is part of a larger project that includes a new $500 million academic campus for the Rush University Medical Center at 301-339 S. Damen Ave.

The Blackhawks and the city of Chicago will host the NHL Draft for the first time in 2017 at the United Center.

Image courtesy of Gavin Jarrett Dow via Wikimedia Commons