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
| Aug 11, 2010
Architecture firms NBBJ and Chan Krieger Sieniewicz announce merger
NBBJ, a global architecture and design firm, and Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, internationally-known for urban design and architecture excellence, announced a merger of the two firms.
| Aug 11, 2010
Nation's first set of green building model codes and standards announced
The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) announce the launch of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), representing the merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes.
| Aug 11, 2010
David Rockwell unveils set for upcoming Oscar show
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and 82nd Academy Awards® production designer David Rockwell unveiled the set for the upcoming Oscar show.
| Aug 11, 2010
More construction firms likely to perform stimulus-funded work in 2010 as funding expands beyond transportation programs
Stimulus funded infrastructure projects are saving and creating more direct construction jobs than initially estimated, according to a new analysis of federal data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis also found that more contractors are likely to perform stimulus funded work this year as work starts on many of the non-transportation projects funded in the initial package.
Museums | Aug 11, 2010
Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities
This column diagnoses the three most common moisture challenges with museums, archives, and art storage facilities and provides design guidance on how to avoid them.
| Aug 11, 2010
Broadway-style theater headed to Kentucky
One of Kentucky's largest performing arts venues should open in 2011—that's when construction is expected to wrap up on Eastern Kentucky University's Business & Technology Center for Performing Arts. The 93,000-sf Broadway-caliber theater will seat 2,000 audience members and have a 60×24-foot stage proscenium and a fly loft.
| Aug 11, 2010
Citizenship building in Texas targets LEED Silver
The Department of Homeland Security's new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility in Irving, Texas, was designed by 4240 Architecture and developed by JDL Castle Corporation. The focal point of the two-story, 56,000-sf building is the double-height, glass-walled Ceremony Room where new citizens take the oath.
| Aug 11, 2010
Carpenters' union helping build its own headquarters
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters headquarters in Dorchester, Mass., is taking shape within a 1940s industrial building. The Building Team of ADD Inc., RDK Engineers, Suffolk Construction, and the carpenters' Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, is giving the old facility a modern makeover by converting the existing two-story structure into a three-story, 75,000-sf, LEED-certif...
