Chicago’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks has stepped in to protect two of DePaul University’s oldest campus fixtures, putting Byrne Hall and Cortelyou Commons on the path to official landmark status. The preliminary landmark recommendations give the buildings’ exteriors temporary protection while city staff finish a formal review that could make those safeguards permanent. The move lands just as DePaul continues to push a new athletics complex that will still require demolition of several nearby century old houses.
The Commission voted to advance preliminary landmark status for both buildings, a step that offers interim safeguards while the designation reports are completed and the next procedural hoops are cleared. As reported by Block Club Chicago, the protections would apply to the exteriors of Byrne Hall and Cortelyou Commons and now move to the City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards before heading to the full council.
About the buildings
Byrne Hall dates to the early 20th century and has long been treated as a cornerstone of DePaul’s campus identity, with its architecture and local role central to the Commission’s findings. Cortelyou Commons was constructed in 1929 to 1930 as a dining hall for McCormick Theological Seminary, then underwent renovation in the 2000s and now serves as one of DePaul’s primary event and gathering spaces. Those details appear in the Commission’s summaries and campus records, per DePaul University.
The tradeoff behind the approval
The landmark push is tied to a larger deal around DePaul’s planned athletics practice and training center, a project the university pitches as key for recruiting and facility upgrades. The proposal, described in public documents as roughly a $60 million effort, won City Council approval late last year and will require demolition of four 1890s rowhouses and a 1925 courtyard apartment building on the 2300 block of North Sheffield. Reporting by Chicago YIMBY details both the demolition impacts and the preservation commitments DePaul made to secure local support.
What comes next
With the Commission’s preliminary recommendations in place, Byrne Hall and Cortelyou Commons are on a formal track toward permanent landmark designation, subject to review by the council’s zoning and landmarks committee and then a full City Council vote. As part of the compromise that helped clear the way for the athletics facility, DePaul agreed to support landmark status for the two exteriors and to invest in preservation work on other campus facades, including repairs to the cladding at O’Connell Hall. Those mitigation commitments are laid out in the Commission’s reports and trade press coverage, according to industry reporting by Athletic Business.
Neighbors and preservation groups react
Some neighborhood groups and preservation advocates argue that landmarking two campus buildings does not fully balance out the loss of the Sheffield Avenue homes and have pressed DePaul to consider alternatives to demolition. Preservation organizations have documented those community objections and pushed for broader protections around the site, as described by Preservation Chicago. DePaul told the Chicago Sun-Times that the university supports preservation efforts even as it invests in new athletic facilities.
