The Chicago Tribune broke a story in the early morning hours about the new DePaul college basketball arena. The new plan, and like Benjamin Linus on the former ABC series Lost, DePaul “always has a plan,” calls for two hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues next to the McCormick Place convention center.
The formal announcement could come this week.
Quoting the Trib:
A publicly supported 10,000- to 12,000-seat arena, which would see DePaul as an anchor tenant but also serve as a venue for corporate and convention assemblies, concerts and sporting events, would be the centerpiece, according to a source familiar with the plans.
The facility would be partly funded with $125 million in public money — $55 million in special taxing district funds and $70 million in McPier bond funds supported by hotel taxes, a second source familiar with the deal said. DePaul University would chip in another $70 million, the source said.
The new arena is projected to be in the 200 block of East Cermak Road.
Playing way off campus in the burbs, asking their fan base to fight O’Hare traffic on the Kennedy is not helping the cause to attract more fans to DePaul basketball. Needless to say, their win-loss record recently isn’t helping either.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net. He’s also an author who also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
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