The Chicago Bulls broke ground today on the team’s new $25 million, 60,000 square-foot practice facility in the Lot J parking lot east of the United Center, a construction project expected to be finished in time for the 2014-15 season.
“This is a historic day for us, bringing the Chicago Bulls back totally into the city,” said Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who credited Mayor Rahm Emanuel for “coming up with the idea” for moving to the city. “We had been thinking about building a bigger building out there (in Deerfield), because we do need more space. But (Mayor Emanuel) said it was important to him and important to the city, so I said we would do it.”
Reinsdorf also said he likely wouldn’t have chosen to build the new facility in the city had the mayor not asked him to do so.
Mayor Emanuel, meanwhile, praised the new facility as a potential boon for the area around the United Center.
