Bygone DePaul: DePaul Center

Bygone DePaul is a series highlighting DePaul’s campus and how it has changed through the years.

Though it may not seem very “bygone”, the DePaul Center building has a long history in Chicago. Before its purchase by DePaul in 1991, it was the Goldblatt’s Department Store building. Founded in 1914, Goldblatt’s was a chain of discount department stores that operated chiefly in the Midwest. They opened their flagship store at 333 S. State St. in 1936 (though the building was actually constructed in 1912 for the A.M. Rothschild & Co. store). In 1982 Goldblatt’s sold their flagship store to the city, which bought it with the intention of turning the building into a new central library. Eventually this plan was scuttled, and the Goldblatt’s building stood vacant and entered a state of disrepair. The city nearly demolished it, and it became a symbol of the decline of the South Loop.

In 1987, DePaul University decided to expand its operations in the Loop and began looking at the Goldblatt’s building. DePaul and the city entered negotiations and settled on a plan that would benefit both parties. DePaul was to pay the city just one million in cash. Two and a half million would be used for a scholarship program called “Leadership 2000”, geared towards Chicago students with a commitment to public service. In addition, the city was to pay around $29 million to lease 220,000 square feet of office space for 30 years, a price that was well below standard rates and locked in for the duration. DePaul’s nominal fee for purchasing the building allowed it to spend $70 million on renovation. DePaul also leases retail space on the ground floor. When the building opened, the space was leased by the Music Mart. The space is now leased to Barnes and Noble as well as various other smaller businesses. In 1989, before DePaul officially purchased the building in 1991 but due to DePaul’s championing, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The new DePaul Center won an award from the Landmark Preservation Council of Illinois for “Best Renovation/Adaptive Reuse” in 1994. The building was officially opened for student use in 1993. Along with the Harold Washington Library, built in 1991, the DePaul Center has helped stabilize and revitalize Chicago’s South Loop.