An upgraded locker room, expanded weight room, and updated dining room with an outdoor patio greeted the Chicago Bears when they arrived at Halas Hall for practice this month. The improvements are part of a major expansion and renovation of the Bears’ headquarters in Lake Forest, Ill., completed by Mortenson Construction in less than seven months, the time between National Football League seasons.
“Despite the very tight turnaround, Mortenson has done a first-class job from start to finish,” says John Bostrom, vice president of business administration for the Chicago Bears. “They put in long hours, successfully working around our staff and coaches who continued to use the facility during construction, and completed all of the improvements in time for the team to take full advantage of them this season.”
The renovation has enhanced both player and business facilities, including the addition of a world-class broadcasting center that has already enabled the Bears to launch a new weekly television program. “With the expansion and upgrades, the Bears organization has strengthened its competitiveness on and off the field with state-of-the-art resources for players, coaches and staff,” says Greg Werner, vice president and head of the Chicago office of Mortenson Construction.
Mortenson expanded Halas Hall by more than 43,000 square feet to a total of 143,350 square feet. As part of the renovation, it enlarged the weight room and training room while installing new lighting, lockers, and carpeting in the locker room. Mortenson added offices and conference rooms with upgraded technology as well as a viewing suite overlooking the team’s practice fields.
A new event center includes a 4,000-square foot broadcast studio and conference center, new press conference room and additional work space for media. At the event center, the Bears are putting the finishing touches on a special interactive space featuring team information and memorabilia, including some never-before-featured pieces of Bears history such as the 1963 NFL championship trophy.
Mortenson drew on extensive experience, having built more than 100 sports and event centers totaling more than $4 billion, for the Halas Hall project.
About Mortenson Construction
Founded in 1954, Mortenson Construction is a U.S.-based, privately held construction company. As one of the nation's top builders, Mortenson provides a complete range of services, including planning, program management, preconstruction, general contracting, construction management, design-build, and development. With a local office in Chicago, Mortenson has additional offices in Minneapolis, Denver, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Seattle and international operations in Canada and China.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Dec 5, 2021
2021 Justice Facility Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. justice facility/public safety sector
Turner Construction, DLR Group, AECOM, and Stantec top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms for justice facility/public safety buildings work, including correctional facilities, fire stations, jails, police stations, and prisons, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 3, 2021
2021 Hotel Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. hospitality sector
Gensler, Jacobs, Suffolk Construction, and WATG top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest hotel sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Architects | Nov 29, 2021
LRK Names Tony Pellicciotti ‘Managing Principal’ of firm
Pellicciotti is one of LRK’s fourteen principals representing its markets in Memphis, Dallas, Philadelphia, Orlando/Celebration, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Little Rock, and Princeton.
Architects | Nov 23, 2021
HMC names new Director of Design
James Krueger will oversee design and lead strategies to improve the impact of HMC’s work.
Giants 400 | Nov 20, 2021
2021 Parking Structure Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. parking structure sector
PGAL, PCL Construction, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest parking structure sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Nov 20, 2021
Top 100 Design-Build Construction Firms for 2021
Clayco, Hensel Phelps, ARCO Construction Companies, Swinerton, and Ryan Companies US top the rankings of the nation's largest design-build construction firms for buildings construction work, according to BD+C's 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Nov 19, 2021
2021 Cultural Facilities Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. cultural facilities sector
Gensler, AECOM, Buro Happold, and Arup top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest cultural facilities sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Nov 19, 2021
2021 Convention Center Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. convention and conference facilities sector
Populous, KPFF, Lendlease, and Turner Construction top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest convention and conference facilities architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Nov 18, 2021
2021 Multifamily Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. multifamily building sector
Clark Group, Humphreys and Partners, and Kimley-Horn head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest multifamily building sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Laboratories | Nov 18, 2021
Tapping into the life sciences building boom
Paul Ferro of Form4 Architecture discusses how developers are pivoting to the life sciences sector, and what that means for construction and adaptive reuse.