DePaul's Des Plaines campus moving to Chicago

After 33 years in Des Plaines, DePaul University is moving its suburban campus off River Road to make way for the city's new casino.

The casino project will be built on about 20 acres fronting the Tri-State Tollway at the northwest corner of Devon Avenue and River Road. While the casino's first phase of construction - expected to start this spring - does not involve the DePaul building, many businesses in the area have already relocated.

About 20 businesses moved out of the casino site to nearby locations in Des Plaines, said Michael Conlan, Des Plaines director of community and economic development.

DePaul's Des Plaines campus, 3166 S. River Road, was the university's first suburban satellite location when it opened in 1978, but the university had been offering classes in a temporary space since 1977.

DePaul now has additional campuses in Rolling Meadows, Naperville and Oak Forest.

The Des Plaines operation will move into an office building at 8770 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., on the far Northwest side of Chicago.

DePaul University spokesman John Holden said while the university has a long history in Des Plaines, the new location is much more accessible by mass transit. It is short walk from the Cumberland Blue Line station on the Kennedy Expressway, with another exit off I-294.

Conlan said he was disappointed but not surprised by DePaul's decision to move out of town because a majority of its faculty and students use mass transit.

"We talked to them about downtown Des Plaines and did some analysis about the benefits of the Metra connection versus CTA, but it wasn't enough to shake them from the Blue Line connection," Conlan said.

Holden said the relocation won't affect students much as the new O'Hare Campus will be just 1.7 miles away.

The 14-story office building will bear DePaul University's name and logo to make it more visible to passing motorists, Holden said.

"You couldn't ask for a better location," Holden said. "There's also a very large office population right in that immediate complex. It really puts our programs in much closer proximity to potential students."

The university says it got a "favorable" lease rate for the new location, which officials would not divulge due to confidentiality. Some of DePaul's new neighbors are Wilson Sporting Goods and Rexam PLC.

Classes will continue at the Des Plaines campus through Aug. 21, the end of the summer quarter. The college's roughly 500 students will resume the fall semester at the new Chicago location, which at about 38,000 square feet is 10 percent larger than the current site, Holden said.

"We also do a lot of room rentals for businesses in the area and will continue that activity through the summer as well in the old space," Holden said.

Holden said the new campus will be significantly refurbished for the university's needs because the space has never been used for academic purposes. Students will have more amenities at the new campus, such as wireless Internet access, computer lounges, and a variety of food choices in the same building.

DePaul may also add courses in time. Presently, the satellite campus offers MBA classes, and a school for new learning specializing in courses for mature adults who didn't graduate from college, as well as professional certifications, project management and computer science courses.