DePaul President Announces Big Plans
DePaul Hopes to Redefine Athletics Program With Two Major Construction Projects
When Robert L Manuel was introduced as the 13th president of DePaul University, he made it clear he had a goal in mind, put DePaul on the national stage as Chicago’s top school. In order to get DePaul to that level, one of Manuel’s most challenging tasks was to rebuild their severely lackluster athletics program. However, with the help of DePaul’s Vice President and Athletics Director DeWayne Peevy, a clear plan has been laid out with the announcement of two massive construction projects. On August 31, 2023, President Manuel officially announced the school’s plans to fully renovate Sullivan Athletic Center and McGrath-Phillips Arena, along with the construction of a brand-new basketball practice facility in the heart of the Lincoln Park Campus.
Image Courtesy of Antunovich Associates – Sullivan Athletic Center Renovation
Renovations on the Sullivan Athletic Center will begin sometime this winter and the first phase is expected to be completed by the end of summer 2024. According to Antunovich Associates, who collaborated with DePaul to design both projects along with DePaul’s School of Music, the newly renovated Athletic Center will be far more advanced and modern with new features being added. These features include new locker rooms for women's volleyball and softball, as well as both men’s and women's soccer and track & field. Athletes will also be getting a remodeled weight room, player lounges, recruiting lounges, and meeting rooms. Many of the current student-athletes at DePaul have expressed a lot of excitement about the news.
“It’s really cool to see the school finally make an effort to build the athletics program. I’m happy for the new recruits and freshmen who will be able to experience all of this,” one of DePaul’s men's volleyball players said.
Image Courtesy of Antunovich Associates – New Basketball Practice Facility
As for the second half of this project, the plans to build a brand-new basketball practice facility in the center of the Lincoln Park Campus have received quite a bit of pushback from the public. In fact, the Sheffield Neighborhood Association held a community meeting at the Sullivan Athletic Center back in November. The local event ended up attracting around 50 members of the Lincoln Park area. Many of them voiced their concerns about DePaul’s plans to tear down multiple historic courtyard buildings and rowhouses to build the new facility.
“Why don’t they just tear down that building where the Whole Foods used to be? Since they already own the property,” one of the community members said in an interview.
When asked about the community's concern regarding the project, DePaul Athletic Director DeWayne Peevy ensured that improving the school’s athletics department will be just as beneficial to the university as a whole.
“My job is to help build a better front porch for DePaul, one that includes a strong athletics program – which will also give a major boost to the university's academic strengths and national rankings,” Peevy said.
Construction on the new basketball practice facility isn’t expected to begin until “Summer of 2025 at the earliest, and should be completed by fall 2026”, according to Peevy. The facility will be 70,000 square ft and will include numerous features. It will contain 2 separate practice courts for both the men’s and women’s teams, newly designed locker rooms for both teams, rehab/physical therapy rooms, coaching offices, and individual team meeting rooms. While the main purpose for building this facility is to cater more for the basketball program, it will also allow DePaul to use the Sullivan Athletic Center and McGrath-Phillips Arena for a variety of non-sports related events. Which will be just one of the many benefits that this plan brings to the table.
While this project is very much still in the beginning stages, the excitement levels continue to grow higher amongst the DePaul community. The goal for these projects has always been to bring DePaul back to the national stage academically and especially athletically.
Peevy concluded his statement by adding, “I’m proud of these projects as they will have an extraordinary impact on every single DePaul student athlete and each of our 15 sports programs.”
*Special Thanks to Alex Bundschh, Adam Thompson, & Nick Palazzolo for contributing to this story*
