Organizers of the 2024 Democratic National Convention offered a walkthrough of the United Center on Thursday as Chicago prepares to host the event for the first time since 1996.
The event will include a massive undertaking of media, delegates and security as Chicago will temporarily become the epicenter of the political universe in an election year.
The 2024 DNC marks the 26th time Chicago is hosting a political convention, the most of any city.
Planners for the event that will take place seven months from now remain in the early stages of reimagining the space inside the venue that's typically home to concerts and games for the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks.
The seats inside the United Center are planned to be filled with delegates, with media filing reports from the venue's skyboxes.
A stage that has yet to be built will be placed at the center of the arena, where speeches will be given throughout the event.
Chicago's hosting of the DNC is meant to be emblematic of the "Blue Wall" in the Midwest, with Illinois leading the pack of Great Lakes states along with Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan that often prove pivotal to Democrats' electoral success on a presidential level.
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"In 2024, we're going to put on a convention with the blue wall that shows how Democrats are changing the lives of people in the Heartland and all across America," convention chair Minyon Moore said.
The Midwest will also be the setting of the Republican National Convention in July, which will be held at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, further cementing the Midwest's undisputed status as a battleground region.
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