CHICAGO — DePaul University and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority have broken ground on a 10,000-seat, $165 million basketball arena in Chicago known as the McCormick Place Event Center.
The 300,000-square-foot Event Center will serve as a key component of the McCormick Place Entertainment District, and, in addition to hosting home games by the DePaul Blue Demons, will also host entertainment, large-scale conventions and trade shows.
Both DePaul and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority are contributing $82.5 million to the construction of the arena, while the city contributed approximately $40 million in tax increment financing funds to acquire the land, according to Crain’s Chicago Business and The DePaulia, DePaul’s student newspaper.
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority awarded New Haven, Conn.-based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects the $7.2 million design contract in 2013, according to Crain’s. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Pelli Clarke Pelli CEO Lori Healey, Chairman Jack Greenberg of Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, DePaul University President Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, and Chicago Alderman Pat Dowell all attended the groundbreaking.
The arena occupies a full Chicago city block, with landscaped setbacks at the corner of Cermak Road and Indiana Avenue, and a spacious plaza for spectators to congregate before and after events. The arching roof with rising arcs will be lit in the evenings. The fully transparent main entrance is comprised of lightweight glass walls.
DePaul has used Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont for its home games since 1980. The university is located seven miles northwest of the new arena’s site.
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority is the corporation that owns and manages the Navy Pier and McCormick Place entertainment districts in Chicago.
— Scott Reid