Seventh in a series highlighting DePaul’s campus and how it has changed through the years.
During the Roaring '20's, the Chicago Loop underwent a huge building boom. By this point, DePaul University was already a presence downtown because the Law School and the School of Commerce were at 84 E. Randolph, which DePaul rented. Due to the high real estate prices and the success of downtown classes, DePaul decided that building its own skyscraper in the area would be a wise investment.
An organization called the DePaul Educational Aid Society was created in order to lease three lots at Lake Street between Michigan and Wabash: 64, 66, and 68 E. Lake Street. The lease for this land was priced at $56,000 annually ($697,735 when adjusted for inflation to 2009 dollars). The buildings currently on these lots were razed, and in 1928 a new 17 story building was erected. The 1st and 8th- 12th floors were rented out to help defray costs for the University; the 2nd-7th floors were used by DePaul for a theater hall, administrative offices, a Secretarial School, and liberal arts classes; the 13th-16th floors were used for commerce and law, and a social lounge was created on the 17th floor. At this point, DePaul had significantly more classroom and office space in the Loop than in Lincoln Park, and served many more students there.
64 E. Lake Street was a social nexus for DePaul University students from the time it was built. Pixley and Ehlers, the restaurant that rented the 1st floor, was considered by many to be DePaul’s cafeteria. Sock-hops were held monthly on the 4th floor, and there was a healthy fraternity and sorority life at the downtown campus. The lounge (complete with jukebox!) on the 17th floor and the unused classrooms, as well as hallways and stairwells, all functioned as socializing space.
Unfortunately in 1929, the year after the building was completed, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. DePaul had trouble renting the 8th-12th floors, and soon went into debt paying the lease. The classrooms were furnished with “barely adequate equipment,” and debt haunted DePaul throughout its ownership of the building. The lease was allowed to expire and the building sold in 1963 after the Lewis Center was acquired as a gift from Frank J. Lewis. The address of the building has since changed to 70 E. Lake Street. Although DePaul no longer owns the building and its address has changed, 64 E. Lake Street still carries a piece of its history in the “DPU” medallions adorning its stone façade.
