The Highland Park City Council voted down the idea proposed by the owner of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan’s former mansion in Highland Park, Illinois, to turn the house into a museum.
Jordan’s home has long been iconic. As described in a 2024 real estate listing on Zillow, the 7.4-acre estate features nine bedrooms, 15 full bathrooms, four half bathrooms, a circular infinity pool, a putting green, a tennis court, and a cigar room.
The mansion also features an indoor basketball complex with its own entrance, which was completed in 2001. The complex features a full-size basketball court and a special sound system.
The owner said he wanted the mansion to become possibly the next Graceland, which could grow Highland Park’s economy.
The museum would’ve been called “Champions Point,” which the owner, John Cooper, presented to the city council. It would have been free admission for Highland Park residents the first year, Highland Park public and private schools will be able to come once a year for free, and 48 days of the year will be used for youth and community programming.
Neighbors who attended Monday night’s meeting said they were concerned about traffic, noise, and safety. However, not everyone shared those same concerns.
“I think it’s all going to be done in a very controlled way,” Crushers Club executive director Sally Hazelgrove said before the meeting.
She said she understands neighbors’ concerns, but kids in underserved communities need to have experiences like this to dream big and work hard to reach those goals.
“For places like Highland Park to open their arms up to the inner city youth and for others that are not, you know, or disadvantaged and more marginalized, and the oppressed and the poor, we need to open our arms to them,” she said.
Again, the Highland Park City Council voted down the museum idea during the meeting. If the decision had passed, the owner said tickets would have cost $75, and there would be a $50 upcharge for certain places like the basketball court and putting green.
The mansion’s history
The house was built between 1993 and 1995, in accordance with Jordan’s exact specifications, including its distinctive wrought iron front gate bearing his famous number 23.
Jordan and his ex-wife, Juanita, raised their sons, Jeffrey and Marcus, and their daughter, Jasmine, in the mansion. Michael and Juanita Jordan divorced in 2006.
In recent years, the mansion has been in the headlines for the yearslong attempt to sell it. Jordan originally put the mansion up for sale with a $29 million asking price in 2012, but it didn’t sell until December 2024.
The final sale price was $9.5 million, about a third of the original asking price.
The owner told the Chicago Tribune he is thinking of offering tours of the mansion.
