The Chicago Plan Commission has approved a proposal by DePaul University to build a $42 million basketball practice facility on its campus that will require demolishing a row of century-old residential buildings.
The Chicago Tribune reports that university officials say the lack of modern practice courts makes it hard to compete for athletic talent with rival schools in the Big East Conference.
“We are getting turned down because of our lack of facilities,” said DePaul University Athletic Director DeWayne Peevy.
The four-story facility will provide two basketball courts, one apiece for the men’s and women’s teams. It also will have training and team meeting rooms, sports medicine facilities and locker rooms for other student athletes.
The university plans to demolish five DePaul-owned buildings, which are a mix of student housing and administrative offices.. The plan still needs an approval from City Council.
Many community members and preservationists say they would prefer DePaul use a parking lot it owns one block north for a new basketball facility.
Although two of the buildings targeted for demolition are “orange-rated” by the city, or potentially historic, neither meets the threshold for landmark status, said Dijana Cuvalo, an architect with the Historic Preservation Division of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development.
