Statue centerpiece of new UC building
Fans will no longer have to freeze while taking selfies in front of the Michael Jordan statue, thanks to the latest addition to the United Center campus that’s the product of an “unlikely” community partnership.
The MJ statue that has long been a tourist attraction unto itself is now located in the atrium of the new, five- story office building that officially opened with a ribbon- cutting ceremony Wednesday.
“I would look out here in January and see some of those tourists taking pictures in the middle of January and wonder whether . . . on the brochures, when you write the average temperature in January is 25 degrees, do they think it’s 25 degrees Celsius?” Bulls President Michael Reinsdorf said. “It is insane how many people love to come here and take pictures.”
Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz noted that, when his father, Bill, and Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf joined forces to build the United Center, they never dreamed that the stadium would become “such a tremendous economic boon to the West Side.”
“We continually re- invest back in the United Center — if not inside, outside. Places like the Bulls Advocate Center, the east end expansion which we’re in now and soon to be the community ice rink for the Blackhawks, which should be [ open in] December of this year,” Wirtz said.
In 2015, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s refusal to extend an expiring United Center property tax break nixed plans for a $ 95 million retailand- entertainment complex in the shadows of the stadium.
Instead, the Bulls and Blackhawks agreed to build a standalone office building with a ground- level retail store and a public atrium connection to the United Center that will free up space inside the stadium for more entertainment and fan amenities.
The atrium will be open between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on days when there are no United Center events. On game or concert days, it’ll be 10 a.m. until one hour after the event ends.
In addition to the MJ statue, the atrium will feature a 10,000- square- foot Bulls and Blackhawks retail store expected to open this summer. A new entrance will open during the 2017- 18 season, along with a sky lounge, cafe and bar.