April 15th, 2025 marked a major announcement in the short history of DePaul Prep: the commitment to begin construction on the long-awaited athletics complex in Spring 2026. This “final piece of the campus master plan” has been in the works since 2019, according to President Mary Dempsey, and is expected to benefit athletics, school spirit, and admissions.
This announcement has come with substantial positive feedback from current and prospective families and alumni.
“The excitement around this and the possibilities to better serve out coaches and families is so exciting,” said Athletics Director Patrick Mahoney.
The announcement saw high engagement across social media platforms, and created “such a buzz around the school community” in the following days, according to Director of Strategy and Communications Eleanor Cain.
The announcement’s timing comes as a result of the successful fundraising of over $21 million dollars towards the $31.5 million dollar goal for the completion of the athletics complex. Announcing the project’s timeline so far in advance of it‘s completion allowed DePaul Prep to “be clear and communicate to the community that we hit that milestone,” said Cain. “As soon as we knew it could happen, we communicated it,” she said.
Plans for the athletics complex have changed since the beginning of the design process, but the overall features have been mostly consistent, according to Dempsey and Mahoney.
In order to keep costs effective, DePaul Prep administration has worked closely with the architects of Moody Nolan and and contractors of Bulley & Andrews to reduce costs without compromising on the goals and vision for the space.
“They know how to do this, and they know how to lock down prices and get the materials we need,” said Dempsey. As with any major construction project, the athletics complex went through many iterations and was “refined many times” between its origin in 2019 to the finalized plan, said Dempsey, but the design is “finally ready to go.”
The new athletics complex will house a competition gym for pep rallies, varsity games, and school masses as well as a field house with three full-sized practice courts, baseball and softball batting cages, and an elevated running track. The space will also house a new weight room, wrestling room, new physical training office, and separate locker rooms for gym classes and home and away teams, said Mahoney. Increased storage and locker rooms will make it easier for athletes to get ready for practice and play their best during games, he said.
A contributing factor to the timing of the announcement was increased tariffs on imported goods. While most of the materials being used are domestically produced and should avoid price increases, part of the reasoning behind announcing the athletics complex sooner rather than later was to “lock down the prices” and avoid unexpected costs, said Dempsey. However, renovation of the West Wing, another major DePaul Prep construction project, occurred during the height of COVID-19 related supply chain issues, and contractors and architects were able to “push through and have everything they needed to build out the space,” said Dempsey.
Part of the announcement for the upcoming athletics complex included a final push for fundraising the space. 21.5 million dollars out of the necessary 31.5 million have already been raised, but 10 million more are still needed to begin the project. Existing contributions have mostly come from “a lot of hard work” by current and prospective families, foundations, and corporate support, said Dempsey. “We asked people to pay it forward,” she said, “because a lot of people who contributed to the fundraising are alumni that have never set foot on this campus.”
Additional fundraising will come from this year’s Spring Fling. Since the first spring fling, the paddle raising portion of the evening has been dedicated to supporting the capital campaign, or biggest current financial goal. This year’s Spring Fling, held May 2nd, was the third Spring Fling supporting the constriction of the athletics complex as the capital campaign, and was expected to raise up to a half million dollars, said Dempsey.
The completion of the athletics complex, scheduled for fall of 2027, is projected to benefit coaches, students, and community spirit, according to Mahoney, by being the last piece of making DePaul Prep a “full service campus” and removing any reliance on the Fr. Gordon Campus, currently used to house athletics, dances, and other events. “We use the word ‘Excellence’ in ‘FRESH,’ and I think the new athletics complex is going to make our programs excellent,” said Mahoney.
