Monstrous work is going to be launched around the United Center in Chicago. For once, it is not about renovating an NBA arena, as happens regularly, but about giving its setting a makeover.
The Bulls arena is in fact surrounded by gigantic parking lots, so Ciere Boatright, director of the department that handles land use planning at Chicago City Hall, does not hesitate to compare them to one “asphalt sea”.
The owners of the United Center are announcing that within ten years, and with a check for 7 billion dollars, all that will change.
“I believe this project will send a powerful and positive message to the world and demonstrate how Chicago and Illinois continue to set new standards in architecture, community engagement and growth.”says Terry Savarise, general manager of the United Center, home of the Bulls since 1994.
The idea is to replace these thousands of square metres of asphalt with housing, a 6,000-seat theatre, a car park with a green space, cycle paths and perhaps even a hotel, over seven phases of construction. All on more than 220,000 m2.
A project that will create a total of 63,000 jobs, including 4,000 in the first phase alone, in spring 2025.
