The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., DePaul University president, and James Jenness, chair of DePaul’s Board of Trustees, led members of the DePaul community, elected officials and friends of the university at a Jan. 11 ribbon-cutting dedication for the $33 million Arts & Letters Hall building on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus.

“Today’s dedication is not only of bricks and mortar, or even of an institution’s new arrival point, but of the great work that will be conducted herein,” Holtschneider told the audience of several hundred attendees.  

The new four-story building brings 47 state-of-the-art classrooms and a PC lab for math and science specialties to the heart of the Lincoln Park Campus. The 119,000-square-foot building features an exposed  interior staircase overlooking a dramatic, four-story atrium.  Light-filled bays just off the atrium on each of the four floors will accommodate lounge and study areas, while a stain-glassed image of St. Vincent de Paul, the university’s patron, overlooks the main entrance.  The landscaped courtyard of the new building includes attached tables and chairs to provide additional gathering spots under a pergola.

Digital Commons, a computer lab located just off the main lobby on the first floor, will provide students with work stations, and the entire building also will offer wi-fi access.  Two academic departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (LAS) — English and History of Art and Architecture— relocated from McGaw Hall to the building with faculty offices and meeting rooms.

LAS Dean Charles Suchar noted the new building “will provide a terrific environment for learning. It’s a beautiful building that has the look of our science halls. It will serve our students well for many years to come.” The building is not for the exclusive use of use of LAS but for the entire university, Suchar noted.

It will replace classrooms that will be lost when McGaw Hall is demolished in the coming years to make way for the new School of Music building.  Moving a core classroom building from the east end to the center of campus will also greatly reduce distances traversed daily by many students and faculty.

The building was designed by the firm of Antunovich Associates, which has played a key role over several decades in dramatically reshaping DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus.

Bob Janis, vice president for facility operations, said DePaul has applied for LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Commonwealth Edison, noting the building’s efficient design of electrical systems, awarded DePaul a check for nearly $50,000 as part of its Smart Ideas program, Janis said.