DePaul University presents basketball practice facility to community

DePaul University has presented their plans to renovate the Sullivan Athletic Center and McGrath-Phillips Arena as well as to build a new practice facility for the school’s basketball teams. Planned for the northwest corner of W. Belden Ave and N. Sheffield Ave, the new facility will rise across the street from the current Sullivan Athletic Center and will replace a recently acquired, university-owned apartment complex in addition to four other smaller buildings in this area that are from the 1890s and 1920s.

At the community meeting, DeWayne Peevy, DePaul’s Vice President and Director of Athletics, walked the community through their current facilities and its shortcomings. Peevy discussed how the current state of disrepair is hindering the school’s ability to recruit and retain top talent, with student athletes opting for other schools with better training programs and facilities. He told community members how this facilities investment was an opportunity for change and to build the national recognition and relevance of DePaul University.

Designed by HNTB and Antunovich Associates, the new facility would feature a brick façade that mirrors the aesthetic of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, with a pitched roof that pays homage to DePaul's former Lincoln Park arena, Alumni Hall. Floor-to-ceiling glass around the basketball gyms will offer views of the surrounding neighborhood and wider city context. DePaul men’s and women’s basketball will move their training, practices, and operations across the street from the Sullivan Athletics Center to allow for more dedicated spaces to support the programs. 

At the McGrath-Phillips Arena, the renovation will infill one of the three basketball courts with two stories of new athletic support space. The first floor of the facility will be dedicated to the health and wellness of all 215+ DePaul student athletes, and will include a team dining space, nutrition bar, new sports medicine treatment spaces and offices, hydrotherapy, a weight room, and multi-purpose meeting rooms.

Set to cost $60 million, the project will be funded primarily through donor gifts and via a fundraising campaign. As the project moves forward, the demolition of buildings on site would not begin until Summer 2025 at the earliest as the proposal is seeking an amendment to the existing Planned Development for the campus. The amendment would need approval from Alderman Timmy Knudsen (43rd), the Chicago Plan Commission, the Committee on Zoning, and the full City Council. 

Construction of the new facility would begin after demolition is done and is expected to be completed by Fall 2026. Renovation of the Sullivan Athletic Center and McGrath-Phillips Arena is set to begin this December, with the first phase being completed in late Summer 2024.

At the meeting, neighbors expressed concern and disappointment with the plan to demolish the century-old buildings, citing the loss of character within the neighborhood and the loss of student housing. Richard Wiltse, Vice President of Facility Operations at DePaul explained that, while the demolitions will result in the loss of 40 beds of student housing, the school has seen an enrollment decline and there are currently 79 unoccupied beds in student housing.

A number of residents made comments and asked about building the facility on other parcels owned by DePaul, including the large parking lot at the northwest corner of W. Fullerton Ave and N. Sheffield Ave or the building at the southeast corner of the same intersection which used to house the Whole Foods. Peter Coffey, Associate Vice President of Community and Government Relations explained that those properties are already master planned, and the university is not willing to give up those redevelopment opportunities which include a potential mixed-use development on the existing surface parking lot with student housing, a hotel, conference center, and parking. 

When neighbors suggested replacing the Sullivan Athletic Center and McGrath-Phillips Arena, DeWayne Peevy jumped in to explain how it would be impossible to decommission their only athletic space in the interim while construction would be underway.