The home of DePaul basketball opened its doors in the 2017-18 in Chicago’s McCormick Square neighborhood. The 10,387-seat facility near McCormick Place in the South Loop area of the city is a joint project between the City of Chicago, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, and DePaul University. It features state-of-art amenities for the DePaul men’s and women’s basketball programs as well as fans in attendance with over 400 club seats and 22 suites.

A nine-member panel consisting of representatives from the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), the city of Chicago and DePaul University selected the internationally renowned architectural firm Pelli Clarke Pelli to design the arena that includes the DePaul men's and women's basketball programs as primary tenants.

The design concept features a sweeping curved roof above four transparent sides that house DePaul men's and women's basketball along with a variety of civic, entertainment and convention events for Chicago and MPEA. The design endeavors to become a grand "urban room," in the great Chicago tradition of buildings like the Auditorium Theatre and the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Nov. 16, 2015 for the facility as the project was started along with the 40-story, 1,200-room Marriott Marquis hotel across the street. DePaul hosts events annually in the facility including graduation ceremonies, which will allow each school of the university to have its ceremony under the same roof.

Not only does the facility serve as a home for men's and women's basketball that is close to the university's two primary campuses, it has been part of job creation, tourism attraction and overall economic development to the McCormick Place entertainment district.

The location is situated just three 'L' stops from DePaul's loop campus that caters to half of the DePaul student body. The Lincoln Park campus and the remaining half of DePaul's 25,000 students is 10 'L' stops from the home of the Blue Demons. Additionally, the South Loop location is a seven-mile trip down Chicago's Lakeshore Drive flanked by the city's world-famous skyline and Lake Michigan. DePaul's 80,000 alumni in the Chicagoland area will have easy access to the events center by major highways.

The arena was honored with the prestigious American Architecture Award that also included U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. In December 2017, the facility hosted both the No. 1-ranked women’s and men’s teams in the country as the Connecticut women visited Wintrust Arena on Dec. 8 followed by the Villanova men’s team on Dec. 27. Other major basketball events at the facility include the annual BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Tournament, the 2019 NCAA Women’s Basketball Regional and when the 2020 NBA All-Star Game visited Chicago, Wintrust Arena hosted the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game along with practices for the Rising Stars and All-Star Game squads.

DePaul University Athletics

Facilities

Related Videos

Related News