Sports
Chicago Blackhawks Dedicate $65M to Ice Arena Expansion
The expansion is planned to open in January 2026
The Chicago Blackhawks are building a $65-million ice arena expansion that they expect to draw 1.5-million visitors a year to Chicago's west side.
Rendering courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago’s National Hockey League team, the Blackhawks, are doing a $65-million expansion and renovation of their home ice—the Fifth Third Arena— with Chicago-based McHugh Construction as general contractor, Kansas City-headquartered Generator Studio as architect and FC Studio Inc., also in Chicago, as interior designer.
Slated to open in January 2026, the 250,000-sf-ft facility at 1801 W. Jackson Blvd. will be the official training home to the Chicago Blackhawks and will become the permanent home of the Chicago Steel, a United States Hockey League (USHL) team, which was acquired by the franchise’s owner, the Wirtz Corporation, in 2023.
Wirtz envisions the expanded facility, which first opened in 2017, as a year-round destination featuring two new ice rinks with seating and hospitality areas for 2,000 spectators, a new center scoreboard, video ribbon boards, party decks for fans and locker rooms.
Also in the plan is Centennial Hall that will celebrate the team’s 100-year history with a Blackhawks Hall of Fame, an interactive exhibit that will be open year-round to fans.
Other parts of the project include Rocky’s Bar, named in honor of the late Rocky Wirtz, the franchise’s previous owner, which will serve food and beverages, lounges designed for hockey families who will be at the arena for youth hockey events and will be able to use flexible work spaces and quiet areas with Wi-Fi, a Walk of Fame commemorative sidewalk along Jackson Boulevard that will highlight the team's milestone moments and star players and The Patio, an entertainment space that will accommodate up to 150 people and will offer views of the Chicago skyline and the adjacent 1901 campus, a $7-billion, 15-year project being spearheaded by the Wirtz and Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls, who play at the United Center, which is located within the 1901 development.
The Blackhawks estimate that their expanded arena will bring in 1.5 million guests a year.
Plans for the arena and training center have been in the works for nearly a decade. The Blackhawks in 2016 paid $8.7 million to Chicago to purchase four acres of land for the facility and agreed to spend $3 million on fitness and training programs for area youth.
Danny Wirtz, chairman and CEO of the Chicago Blackhawks said in a news release that the new venue will be a place where NHL players will train alongside rising talent.
“Through the Fifth Third Arena expansion, we are creating the epicenter of hockey in the Midwest,” Wirtz said.
McHugh Construction declined to comment; Generator Studio did not reply to a request for comment.
