October 22, 2024
Statement re: Landmarks Illinois’ position on DePaul University’s plan to build a new sports complex
Landmarks Illinois has not, nor do we plan to, endorse DePaul University’s plan to tear down four historic row homes in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood to build a new sports complex.
Since DePaul announced its plans for the new complex a year ago, Landmarks Illinois’ response has been to advocate for the reuse of the existing campus buildings to meet the university’s needs rather than tear down century-old homes on North Sheffield Avenue to make way for new facilities.
The four homes set to be demolished are located within the Sheffield National Register Historic District, which features some of the city’s best examples of late-19th-century architecture. Lincoln Park is increasingly losing its historic housing stock – places that have been integral to the community for over a century. We included the Sheffield National Register Historic District on our list of the Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois in 2019 in response to ongoing demolition. Already, more than a third of the buildings in the Sheffield National Register Historic District have been torn down.
In November 2023, at the first public meeting on DePaul’s proposed plan for a new complex, Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald publicly stated our support for reuse. We have also shared directly with DePaul officials that we encourage reuse of the campus’ existing buildings in lieu of unnecessary demolition of Lincoln Park’s historic structures.
To reiterate: Landmarks Illinois has not given our approval for DePaul’s proposed plan. Any mention to the contrary is false.
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