Halas Hall

Lore & Background

Named after founder George Halas and designed by Peter Rose of Peter Rose + Partners, the building hosts the team's front office, as well as indoor and outdoor practice facilities and cost $20 million. The location is west of the original Halas Hall which opened in 1977, which was named after George Halas Jr., who died unexpectedly in 1979. It was located at Lake Forest College and contained 2 practice fields and front office facilities, now used by the Foresters Athletics Department. Since 1990 the Bears also leased an indoor practice facility in Waukegan.

In Their Own Story

Morning fog often clings to the practice fields as the first light breaks over Lake Forest. Inside the weight room, the rhythmic clang of iron plates echoes off concrete walls that have witnessed decades of conditioning. On any given day, a player might pause in the hallway to look at the black-and-white photos lining the corridor—faces of men who wore the same navy blue and orange decades ago. The portrait of Papa Bear hangs nearby, a silent reminder of the expectation that settles on every shoulder. Outside, the wind rustles through the trees, carrying the distant sound of a whistle for drills. This is not just a building; it is a cathedral of football where history breathes in every rep.

Reader's Guide

The complex includes four outdoor practice fields, the Walter Payton Training Center (an indoor artificial turf field), an indoor turf space with a video board and virtual reality room, Mugs Halas Auditorium (130 seats), 20 conference rooms named after Bears legends, a press conference room and media courtyard, the PNC Center ballroom, football operations facilities with meeting rooms and a café, locker rooms, a weight room named after Clyde Emrich with a lap pool, sports medicine space with hydrotherapy pools and sauna, an event center with memorabilia, and a running/cycling path with racquetball and basketball courts.

Did You Know?

• The original Halas Hall (1977) was named after George Halas Jr., not George 'Papa Bear' Halas.
• The current Halas Hall opened on March 3, 1997, not in 1962.
• The Bears moved their training camp to Halas Hall for the 2020 season after renovations.
• PNC Financial Services purchased naming rights to the new building on April 21, 2015.