The Chicago Plan Commission approved DePaul University’s plans for a new $42.4 million basketball practice facility today.
The news was first reported by Layla Brown-Clark, a City Bureau documenter who reported live on X the Chicago Plan Commission’s meeting today.
One member of the Commission abstained, and two members were away from their table, according to one of Brown-Clark’s posts.
During public comment, five people spoke. Four were against the proposal and one was for. The last speaker, a DePaul alum, said they could not support the building of the facility in the planned location on the Lincoln Park campus, Brown-Clark shared in her posts on X.
The practice facility is planned for the corner of Sheffield Avenue and Belden Avenue, across the street from Sullivan Athletic Center and McGrath-Phillips Arena.
If the practice facility is built, it will give the men’s and women’s basketball programs at DePaul a dedicated practice and training space, with the first floor intended for “the health and wellness” of all DePaul student-athletes. The first floor will also contain a broadcast production studio.
The next step is for the City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards to issue its recommendation. Then, the full City Council will hold a final vote.
When DePaul hosted a community meeting in April 2024, vice president and director of athletics DeWayne Peevy said DePaul athletics needed to return to both national recognition and relevance to help increase enrollment at the university.
Peevy also said athletic performance at the university heightens media attention and athletes at DePaul could not perform well with facilities “in disrepair.”
He also said that recruits have turned DePaul down due to dissatisfaction with the school’s facilities, as DePaul was the only Big East conference school that did not have a dedicated basketball facility. Seton Hall’s facility was under construction at the time, and St. John’s was — and still is — expected to be complete by Spring 2027.
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- Jill Pizzotti’s road to DPU women’s basketball head coach
- Head coach Chris Holtmann announces DePaul men’s basketball roster updates
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