Facilities

DePaul has made it a priority to provide well-equipped, convenient facilities, investing millions of dollars annually in new and renovated campus spaces. Several buildings, such as DePaul Center in the South Loop and Centennial Hall in Lincoln Park, are innovative, mixed-use developments that combine academic, retail and office space to meet the needs of the university and its surrounding communities

Facility improvements include:

• In December 2018 work began on the repurposing of the former concert hall (chapel) into an opera teaching, rehearsal and performance venue. This state of the art and acoustically tuned 16,000 square foot facility, designed by Antunovich Associates, will provide new support amenities at its lower level, a full opera stage, proscenium arch, orchestra pit and 160 seats in a new raked audience chamber.
• In May of 2018 work was completed on the new Holtschneider Performance Center, a 186,000 square foot state of the art acoustically tuned building designed by Antunovich Associates. It houses multiple performance venues ranging in size from 80 to 505, rehearsal space, practice facilities, classrooms and a variety of student support spaces. In addition, a 115 parking spaces are provided in the lower level. 

• September 2017. Work was completed on the construction of the new 10,500 seat Wintrust Arena that is now the home of the men’s and women’s varsity basketball teams. In addition to the Demons playing their home game schedule at Wintrust Arena, the arena will host DePaul’s annual graduation ceremonies along with a wide range of other events throughout the year. The project was developed in partnership with the Metropolitan Pier & Exhibition Authority, who will schedule other uses for the building to include concerts, trade shows, conventions and other events.
• August 2011, August 2013 and August 2017.  The first three phases of the four-phase renovation of the Richardson Library were completed, providing significant upgrades to space, technology and equipment required in order to support current trends in study and research. To date new collaborative work stations and teaching spaces have been constructed, along with specialty labs and quiet study areas.
  
• June 2014 and June 2015. The second and fifth floors of the Daley building were renovated to provide expansion space for the College of Computing & Digital Media. A variety of specialty classrooms and labs were constructed, along with a student project viewing theater, editing studios, maker facilities and other student support spaces. 
  
• September 2013: The Theatre School opened its new home, a 165,000-square-foot multipurpose facility designed by internationally renowned architectural firm Pelli Clarke

  

  Pelli. Located on the southwest corner of West Fullerton and North Racine avenues on the Lincoln Park Campus, the airy, five-story building houses a 250-seat theatre, a flexible 100-seat black-box theatre, administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, rehearsal spaces, design studios, workshops and the school’s script library. 
• June 2012. The 5th floor of DePaul Center was completely renovated for the Driehaus School of Business. The floor houses the Department of Finance & Real Estate​, along with the dean’s office and other business functions, several institutes and a new state of the art trading classroom. 
• January 2012: The Arts & Letters Hall at Kenmore and Belden avenues opened. This building houses the departments of English and History of Art & Architecture.
• September 2011: The DePaul Art Museum opened its new $7.8 million home at 935 W. Fullerton Ave., just east of the CTA’s Fullerton “L” stop. At 15,200 square feet, the three-story building more than doubles the space the museum previously occupied at DePaul’s Richardson Library and includes space for class use, programs and events. The building’s mechanical systems are tailored to provide appropriate conditions for the care of artwork. A second-floor bay window facing the Fullerton “L” allows the museum to interact and communicate with commuters through messages and artwork.
• December 2010: DePaul became the first institution in Chicago to name a building after the city’s first couple when it named its 14 E. Jackson Blvd. building the Richard M. and Maggie C. Daley Building. 
• December 2009: DePaul opened a new Welcome Center at 2400 N. Sheffield Ave. The facility provides a centralized place for admission and alumni activities and gatherings on the Lincoln Park Campus.
• January 2009: DePaul opened the $40 million Monsignor

  

  Andrew J. McGowan Science Building at 1110 W. Belden Ave. on the Lincoln Park Campus. The 130,000-square-foot, four-story structure houses 28 research and teaching laboratories, a lecture hall and two tiered classrooms, and a multipurpose room that converts from a classroom to a lab. The roof supports two greenhouses—one for teaching and one for research. The facility is a core component of DePaul's $20 million Campaign for Excellence in Science, designed to educate professionals to meet the needs of Illinois' scientific and medical communities. The building is named for the brother of William G. McGowan, the late founder of MCI Communications and the namesake for DePaul's first science building, which was completed in 1998 and lies just north of the new building.
• June 2008: DePaul expanded its Loop Campus by acquiring the historic 14 E. Jackson Blvd. building, an 18-story, 384,000-square-foot structure located across the street from the university’s DePaul Center. DePaul’s School for New Learning and College of Communication are housed in the building. With the acquisition, DePaul became the institution of higher education with the most square feet of space in the South Loop academic corridor.
• September 2007: DePaul completed $9 million in renovations at two Lincoln Park Campus academic buildings: the Thomas Levan Center, 2322 N. Kenmore Ave., and the Michael J. O'Connell Center, 1036 W. Belden Ave. The project included installation of 29 high-tech classrooms.
• January 2006: DePaul gave a $3 million facelift to the venerable Cortelyou Commons in Lincoln Park by adding an outdoor terrace on the west side of the building facing Wish Field, installing air conditioning, restoring existing wood paneling and upgrading restrooms.
• October 2005: The College of Law cut the ribbon on a $1

  

  million, 3,200-square-foot admission center that gives the law school an important first-floor presence at the corner of Jackson Boulevard and Wabash Avenue in downtown Chicago. Meanwhile, within the DePaul Center, the university dedicated the new Joan M. Wish Welcome Center. The 2,000-square-foot facility serves as the point of first contact on the Loop Campus for prospective undergraduate students.
• September 2005: Five brownstones on Racine Avenue between Belden and Fullerton avenues on the Lincoln Park Campus were renovated to accommodate the Humanities Center and the religious studies and anthropology departments in a $2 million project that converted former student residences into faculty offices.
• August 2005: DePaul invested $1.6 million to upgrade Wish Field and $3.5 million for Cacciatore Stadium on the Lincoln Park Campus. An innovative “removable tray” system of artificial turf—designed to cover and protect the clay softball infield when the field is being used for men’s and women’s soccer games—was installed. Additionally, 5 square yards was added to the soccer field, making it 70 yards by 115 yards to meet NCAA standards. Cacciatore Stadium became the new home for the women’s softball program. New seating for 800 spectators, a press and scorekeeper’s box, and team benches were added, and improvements were made to the bullpens, dugouts, batting cages and field.
• June 2005: DePaul and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. opened a two-level “academic superstore” in the DePaul Center on the Loop Campus, providing textbook services for DePaul and a retail bookstore for the community. Barnes & Noble also assumed management of the Lincoln Park Campus bookstore.
• August 2004: University Center of Chicago, the largest multicollege residence hall in the nation, opened. The $150 million, 18-story facility at State Street and Congress Parkway houses 1,700 students from DePaul, Roosevelt University, Columbia College Chicago and other institutions, as well as retail space. The facility is owned by the Educational Advancement Fund, a nonprofit entity formed by the three South Loop educational institutions. In October 2004, University Center of Chicago was named Residential/Housing Project of the Year by Midwest Construction magazine, a regional trade publication for the construction industry.
• January 2002: DePaul opened its $25 million student center at Sheffield and Belden avenues on the Lincoln Park Campus. The 145,000-square-foot facility houses student services, organization offices and event space.
• September 2000: At a cost of $36.4 million, two new coed residence halls—Belden/Racine Hall at 2311 N. Racine Ave. and Clifton/Fullerton Hall at 2350 N. Clifton St.—were opened. The new facilities and the rehabbed Munroe Hall at 2312 N. Clifton St. added 588 student beds to the Lincoln Park Campus and created a new student community named West Village.
• May 2000: The $10 million DePaul Athletic Center, 2323 N.

  

  Sheffield Ave., opened, replacing the 43-year-old Alumni Hall. The facility serves as a practice, training and fitness center for student-athletes on DePaul’s teams, including the Blue Demon men’s and women’s basketball teams. The women’s basketball and volleyball teams compete in the facility’s 3,000-seat arena.
• November 1999: DePaul opened a $7 million, 518-car parking facility at 2330 N. Clifton Ave.
• September 1999: The $13 million Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center opened its doors at 2235 N. Sheffield Ave. The four-level, 120,000-square-foot facility provides an expanded venue for intramural and club sports, wellness activities, and fitness programs for students, staff, faculty and alumni.
• September 1998: The $10 million Centennial Hall opened at 2345 N. Sheffield Ave. The mixed-use building of 88,635 gross square feet contains a residence hall and 28,000 square feet of retail. 
• August 1998: DePaul dedicated the $12 million William G. McGowan Biological and Environmental Sciences Center at 2335 N. Clifton Ave. The 60,000-square-foot facility provides seven modern biological and environmental sciences teaching laboratories for students.
• September 1993: DePaul dedicated the 11-story DePaul Center, a $70 million renovation of the historic former Goldblatt’s department store at 1 E. Jackson Blvd. The mixed-use project created an anchor for DePaul’s Loop Campus, combining academic space (including the College of Commerce) with retail and city of Chicago office space. In November 2000, the Urban Land Institute presented the DePaul Center with its prestigious Award for Excellence for Rehabilitation.
• September 1992: DePaul opened its first freestanding library, a $25 million building at 2350 N. Kenmore Ave. It was named the John T. Richardson Library in 1993 in honor of the university’s ninth president.
• November 1987: Wish Field is dedicated.

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