Honorary "Ray Meyer Drive" to be Established in Lincoln Park

DePaul University will break ground Monday, June 8 on the $12 million Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center in a ceremony that also will feature the unveiling of a new street sign honoring the university’s former men’s basketball coach.

The 3 p.m. public ceremony will be held in a parking lot east of Alumni Hall in the 2200 block of North Sheffield Avenue, where the new student fitness center will be built.

Meyer will join DePaul trustees, alumni, students, staff and faculty at the event, where the ceremonial first shovel will be sunk into the ground. A crowd of 200 is expected.

Additionally, Meyer will be presented with a sign reading "Ray Meyer Drive," an exact replica of the honorary street sign to be unveiled that day renaming the stretch of Belden Avenue in front of Alumni Hall between Kenmore and Sheffield Avenues for "The Coach." Ald. Charles R. Bernadini (43^rd) sponsored the city ordinance renaming the street.

The four-level, 115,000-square-foot facility will become a venue for intramural athletic programs, wellness activities and fitness training for students. It is scheduled to be dedicated in June 1999, when DePaul concludes its yearlong centennial celebration.

Features include a six-lane, 25-yard swimming pool, four regulation-sized basketball courts, an elevated jogging track, 7,000 square-feet of multipurpose aerobics space, 9,000 square-feet of weight and fitness training space, courts for various sports, locker rooms with sauna and whirlpool, a juice bar and a lounge area.

Antunovich Associates is the facility’s architect, while W.E. O’Neil has been contracted to build it.

"This center extends DePaul’s educational impact beyond academic subjects and focuses on wellness and fitness issues that promote a lifetime of healthy habits," said James R. Doyle, vice president for student affairs.

In the past 15 years the number of students living on DePaul’s campus has tripled. Today almost 2,000 students live in residence halls and another 2,000 live in apartments in the neighborhood.

The Rev. John P. Minogue, C.M., DePaul’s president, said, "Much more than bricks and mortar, this facility will serve as an incubator for school spirit, fair play, physical fitness, discipline, leadership and self-confidence--values that are at the heart of DePaul."