Blackhawks, city reach agreement on new practice facility

e West Side is about to get a big dose of hockey.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will announce Thursday the city has come to an agreement with the Blackhawks for the team to build its new practice facility and community ice center on the site currently occupied by Malcolm X College, which is just south of the United Center.

The 125,000-square foot facility will include two ice rinks and construction is expected to begin next year and be completed within two years.

Hawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz envisions a facility that will help grow the sport in Chicago."You have the next generation of fans, the kids learn to skate and then when they're skating you teach them hockey," Wirtz told the Tribune last week. "If they're not skating by the time they're 6 or 7 then the chances of them playing hockey — boys or girls — are very little. … We'd have 95 percent for the public. If we design this right … for all practical purposes, it's a community rink the Hawks would practice in occasionally."