New DePaul Arena Updates

[dmac80]

Looks good. It is important that every team in the BE plays in a clean and modern arena. I'd like to see Villanova work something out for their on campus setup that includes an upgrade and a small bump in seating (say to 10k) to raise their attendance, but I understand from posters here that the surrounding community is not very open to expansion and or building projects on the borders of the campus.

[dmac80]

DePaul seems to have more clout in the city than people give them credit for. Keep in mind,in the past the United Center tried their hardest to make this deal not happen.

"The United Center, on Chicago's West Side, had been offering free rent for at least 10 years, plus all ticket revenue"
"We really threw the kitchen sink at them," said Wirtz, who owns the Chicago Blackhawks.

Good thing DePaul seen through those false good intentions.

I agree. The deal sounds pretty sweet but I don't think most of the BE programs benefit from playing in cavernous NBA arenas (Georgetown included). The 10-12k on campus arenas for most of the programs are perfect and provide a more lively and intimidating atmosphere than a half empty NBA arena. Obviously expected big draws for Nova, Gtown, and St Johns are worth playing in NBA arenas and creighton and Marquette continue to be among the top programs in the nation in attendance, so there are exceptions. But in an ideal world each program would have an appropriate sized arena (on campus) for most of their home games. In reality, we can't have everything but this is a step in the right direction for DePaul, I think the program will be on the rise and dangerous with the right new coach.

[Boyee]

All DePaul needs once the McCormick Place Events Center is completed (hopefully in time for the 2016-2017 college basketball season) is a athletic director who focuses on men's sports also and a head coach who can recruit the best from the high schools of Chicago and Chicagoland. Without a new AD & coach, DePaul will be stuck at the bottom of the new Big East and I say this as a DePaul alumnus. DePaul's current coach and their last coach have taken them nowhere but the bottom.

[Boyee]

This is great news for DePaul University. I really am interested in when the shovels are hitting the ground on this structure. The only thing I don't care for is that it is nowhere near either of the two main campuses (Lincoln Park and The Loop) on the Near South Side. The old A. Finkl & Sons Co. former steel mill site (moved to far Southeast side) was where I was hoping they could build a 10,000-12,000 seat arena as the site is on the western edge of Lincoln Park (The Finkl site is slated to be part of a future industrial district along with two other industrial sites that are no longer in use). The site of the former New City YMCA would have been a good site, also as it is 1 block southeast of the North/Clybourn Red Line Subway 'L' Stop, which is one stop south of the Lincoln Park Campus. The site starts only one block south of Lincoln Park, but a new mixed-use development is being built there right now (New City).

[Boyee]

I heard on the Chicago Curbed web site that the McCormick Place Events Center/DePaul Arena will not be finished until Spring 2017, instead of being ready in time for the 2016-2017 college basketball season as was the original target date. This means one more year and total of four more years at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL for the DePaul Blue Demons Men's Basketball Team. This is likely due to construction not starting until early 2015 instead of late 2014 as originally planned due to having to wait out lawsuits. I asked DePaul's Interim Director of Ticket Sales and he said it is still slated to open with the 2016-2017 college basketball season.

[DudeAnon]

Source?

[Boyee]

http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2014/08/21/dates-set-for-mccormick-place-hotel-stadium.php

Dates Set For McCormick Place Hotel and Arena Construction

Tuesday night, the 3rd ward's alderman Pat Dowell hosted a public meeting where McCormick Place representatives presented an update on the ongoing development project to expand the convention facility's footprint by constructing a new Pelli Clarke Pelli designed arena and events center, a new high rise hotel and convention center, as well as a new data center. The meeting was primarily meant to address neighborhood residents' concerns about the traffic and parking implications of the new construction and facilities, but there were a few updates about the buildings themselves.

The 51 story hotel building, set to be a Marriott Marquis with 1,200 rooms and considerable conference and event space, as well as the 10,000 seat stadium, which will host DePaul University's basketball games and be available for concerts and other events, will both start construction in January 2015. The stadium should be completed by February 2017, with the hotel's completion following in May.

The arena will include a sports bar that will be open daily. The Marriott will also feature a number of restaurants open to the public.

The American Book Company building next door to the hotel will be renovated and connected with the hotel's lobby, and just behind it will be a brand new 12 story data center facility built for CenterPoint Properties Trust. No construction timeline was given for the data center.

Neighbors seemed pleased to hear that when the construction for the new event and hotel facilities is completed, there will be 51 fewer curbside parking spaces in the area, and hundreds of currently-free spaces would be re-designated as permit-only parking for Prairie District area residents.

[Boyee]

DePaul University is paying for half the "Events Center", the City of Chicago is paying for 10% through TIF funds, and the State/Federal McCormick Pier and Exposition Authority (McPier or MPEA for short) is paying the remainder and will own the "Events Center." DePaul's Men's Basketball Team will play approximately 13 games a season there and the DePaul Women's Basketball Team will play 10 games a season there and DePaul will have to pay McPier rent.

[NJRedman]

DePaul University is paying for half the "Events Center", the City of Chicago is paying for 10% through TIF funds, and the State/Federal McCormick Pier and Exposition Authority (McPier or MPEA for short) is paying the remainder and will own the "Events Center." DePaul's Men's Basketball Team will play approximately 13 games a season there and the DePaul Women's Basketball Team will play 10 games a season there and DePaul will have to pay McPier rent.

So DePaul pays for half of the costs of building the arena but still has to pay rent? WTF?

[notkirkcameron]

Looks nice. Only question is why in the bottom photo are their banners for Notre Dame, LSU, Texas and Wisconsin? It actually looks like there are 2 Wisconsin and ND banners up. Not a big deal, that just looked funny when I started looking at what was hanging up there.

For now, I'd say they're placeholders for future DePaul championship banners; which means you'll probably see them in the final stadium.