United Center
| The UC, The Madhouse on Madison | |
 |
|
The United Center in 2014
|
|
| Address | 1901 West Madison Street |
|---|---|
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 41°52′50″N 87°40′27″W / 41.88056°N 87.67417°WCoordinates: 41°52′50″N 87°40′27″W / 41.88056°N 87.67417°W |
| Public transit |
at Ashland at Illinois Medical District |
| Owner | United Center Joint Venture (Chicago Blackhawks 50%/Chicago Bulls 50%) |
| Operator | United Center Joint Venture |
| Capacity |
Concerts: 23,500 Basketball: 20,917 with standing room at least 23,129 Hockey: 19,717 with standing room at least 22,428 |
| Field size | 960,000 square feet (89,000 m2) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | April 6, 1992 |
| Built | 1992–1994 |
| Opened | August 18, 1994 |
| Renovated | 2009–10 (300 Level) 2014 (exterior) |
| Construction cost |
$175 million ($283 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect |
Populous (then HOK Sport) W. E. Simpson Company, Inc. Marmon Mok |
| Project manager | International Facilities Group, LLC. |
| Structural engineer | Thornton Tomasetti |
| Services engineer | Flack + Kurtz |
| General contractor | Morse Diesel/Huber Hunt & Nichols |
| Tenants | |
|
Chicago Bulls (NBA) (1994–present) Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) (1995–present) |
|
United Center is an indoor sports arena located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The United Center is home to both the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The arena is named after its city-based corporate sponsor, United Airlines.
The plan to build the arena was created by then Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. The United Center's predecessor was the Chicago Stadium, the original "Madhouse on Madison", which was demolished after the new arena opened for business on August 18, 1994. The first-ever event at the United Center was the WWF event SummerSlam (1994). Due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout, the Blackhawks did not move in until January 1995.
The east side of the stadium features statues of Michael Jordan (known as "The Spirit"), Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, while a statue of various Blackhawks sits to the north on Madison Street, where the Chicago Stadium was located.
The Bulls and Blackhawks operate the United Center through the United Center Joint Venture, a 50/50 partnership of the two teams. It covers 960,000 square feet (89,187 m2) and is located on a 46-acre (19 ha) parcel, west of the Chicago Loop. The arena is the largest in the United States in physical size, though not in capacity. Its exterior bears a striking resemblance to that of Chicago Stadium. It seats 19,717 (not including standing room) for hockey, 20,917 (not including standing room) for basketball and up to 23,500 for concerts. The United Center hosts over 200 events per year and has drawn over 20 million visitors since its opening. It is known for routinely exceeding seating capacity for Bulls and Blackhawks games.
...
Wikipedia