Blackhawks Community Ice Rink

The Chicago Blackhawks opened the team’s privately funded, $65 million facility and community ice rink in November 2017. In addition to serving as the practice home for the Blackhawks and visiting National Hockey League teams, approximately 94 percent of the facility’s use is for the community, youth and adult hockey leagues.

The Blackhawks Creative Team was responsible for the facility naming rights presentations, facility identity and branding, spatial design, and static and digital signage throughout the exterior and interior of the building. The facility, originally named MB Ice Arena, underwent a naming rights rebrand after two years of operation as a result of the merger between Fifth Third Bancorp and MB Financial, Inc.

Fifth Third Arena houses two regulation-sized NHL rinks and features 22 team and public locker rooms, medical and rehab facilities, a public fitness training center and a media center. The facility’s amenities include a restaurant and coffee shop, a rooftop deck and additional space for public functions. The building also includes several classrooms that host programs for Chicago Public School students on the importance of health, wellness, nutrition, physical fitness and STEM education.

The community ice rink also serves as a hub for youth hockey development programs, recreational leagues and high school teams. The Chicago Mission AAA Hockey Club, a local elite youth hockey program, and St. Ignatius College Prep call the USA Hockey-sanctioned facility their home. The Little Blackhawks Learn to Play program, an initiative from the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players' Association, as well as the Chicago Stallions and Chicago Jets also utilize the facility.

The project received rave reviews from Chicago's Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, as well as other local political leaders and members of the west side community.