Alumni Hall (DePaul University)

Alumni Hall
Ray Meyer Court
Location	1011 W Belden Ave; Chicago, Illinois 60604
Coordinates	41°55′23″N 87°39′14″W / 41.923°N 87.654°W
Owner	DePaul University
Operator	DePaul University
Capacity	5,308 (basketball)
Construction
Broke ground	October 3, 1955
Opened	December 16, 1956
Closed	February 26, 2000
Demolished	Summer, 2000
Construction cost	$2 million
Architect	Naess & Murphy
Tenants
	DePaul Blue Demons (NCAA) (1956–2000); Chicago Hustle (WBL) (1978–1981)

Alumni Hall was a 5,308-seat multi-purpose arena in Chicago on DePaul's Lincoln Park campus.^[1]

History

Alumni Hall was dedicated on December 16, 1956, and was owned and operated by DePaul University.^[2] It replaced the University Auditorium, the school's prior on-campus gym.

A student-led fundraising campaign raised $25,000 over five weeks. This covered part of the building cost, which totaled $2 million. Construction began on Oct. 3 in 1955 and finished in December 1956.^[3]

The 44-year-old building consisted of classrooms, offices, an arena, a gymnasium with 5,200 seats, a swimming pool, locker rooms, handball courts and a cafeteria. Alumni Hall's value was equivalent to $18 million today. ^[4]

It was home to the DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team from 1956 until they moved to the Rosemont Horizon in 1980.^[1] The DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball team played all their home games at Alumni Hall from 1974 to 2000, while the men's team played occasional games there. The DePaul Blue Demons women's volleyball team also played their home matches at Alumni Hall.^[5]

The building was the site of the first round of the men's NCAA Midwest Regional in 1960^[6] and was used for first round NCAA women's basketball tournament games in 1990 and 1992.

The arena closed in 2000 and was torn down in 2001. The women's team moved to the Sullivan Athletic Center and the men's team moved all games to their main arena, the Allstate Arena (formerly the Rosemont Horizon).^[2]

The land for Alumni Hall was repurposed for the new DePaul Student Center.^[7]

The arena has been succeeded by the Wintrust Arena. It was built in the fall of 2017 and holds 10,367 seats for DePaul's men's and women's basketball games. It is also home to the Chicago Sky of the WNBA.^[4] ^[8]

Professional basketball

Alumni Hall was the practice facility for the Chicago Bulls in the 1960s and 1970s.^[2]^[5] Alumni Hall was home to the Chicago Hustle of the WBL from 1978 to 1981.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "DePaul Basketball A-to-Z". depaulbluedemons.com. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Then and now: Chicago's lost sports venues". chicagotribune.com. 17 August 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
^ "Into the Archives | Sections | DePaul University Newsline | DePaul University, Chicago".
^ ^a ^b "Facilities".
^ ^a ^b ^c "Adios, Alumni Hall". chicagotribune.com. 19 November 1999. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
^ "1960 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
^ "Attendance and Sites" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
^ "Wintrust Arena".

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[DePaul_BBall-1] "DePaul Basketball A-to-Z". depaulbluedemons.com. Retrieved April 27, 2019.

[Chicago_Sports_Venues-2] "Then and now: Chicago's lost sports venues". chicagotribune.com. 17 August 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2019.

[3] "Into the Archives | Sections | DePaul University Newsline | DePaul University, Chicago".

[depaulbluedemons_com-4] "Facilities".

[Alumni_Hall_History-5] "Adios, Alumni Hall". chicagotribune.com. 19 November 1999. Retrieved April 28, 2019.

[6] "1960 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.

[NCAA_Stats-7] "Attendance and Sites" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved March 19, 2012.

[8] "Wintrust Arena".

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v t e DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
Venues	University Auditorium (1923–1956) Alumni Hall (1956–1980) Allstate Arena (1980–2017) Wintrust Arena (2017–present) McGrath-Phillips Arena (practice/alternate 2000–2017)
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball
Venues	Alumni Hall (1974–2000) * McGrath-Phillips Arena (practice/alternate 2000–2017) Wintrust Arena (2017–present)
Culture & lore	Crossover at Kinnick
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e DePaul University
Academics	College of Computing and Digital Media College of Law Kellstadt Graduate School of Business The Theatre School
Athletics	Sports: DePaul Blue Demons Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's soccer Big East Conference Venues: McGrath-Phillips Arena Wintrust Arena
Campus	Merle Reskin Theatre
Student life	The DePaulia
History	Allstate Arena Alumni Hall Barat College Congregation of the Mission McCormick Theological Seminary University Auditorium Vincent de Paul
People	Alumni Dennis H. Holtschneider