North Central College is to start construction this summer on a new Student Commons building at East Chicago Avenue and South Brainard Street, requiring demolition of the Edward Everett Rall House and two other buildings.
The 60,000-square-foot building will be done in two phases, with a new dining hall expected to be finished in November 2027 followed by work on a new student activity center, which currently has no construction timetable, said Jim Godo, vice president for communication and external affairs for the Naperville-based school. The two will eventually come together as one comprehensive building.
A new Student Commons building was identified as a campus need in the North Central College’s 2024 Master Land Use Plan, Godo said.
“Our current dining hall is essentially 100 years old, and we are in desperate need of a new, modern dining hall,” he said.
Kaufman Dining Hall, the university’s main dining facility, will remain in use until the new facility is complete. At that point, North Central College will assess how it will be used in the future, Godo said.
Once completed, the Student Commons will have a spacious, one-story dining hall with open seating and a college grill to serve after-hours meals, he said. The two-story student activity center will house the campus store and event space on the first floor, while the second floor will serve as the “hub of student life,” with breakout rooms for studying or meetings, a kitchenette and open space where students can practice a presentation or socialize while watching TV.
“We’re very excited about the Student Commons, and we’re looking forward to the time when we can break ground and get going on that because it’s really going to be a transformative facility for our students (and) for our campus,” Godo said.
In addition to the Rall House at 329 S. Brainard St., the project also calls for the demolition of Oliver Hall at 232 E. Chicago Ave. and a building known as the Blue House at 224 E. Chicago Ave.
The Blue House and Rall House are currently used for office space that will be relocated elsewhere on campus.
Rall House once served as the home for North Central College’s presidents. It was initially purchased 96 years ago by a family member of Edward Everett Rall, who was school’s fifth — and longest-serving — president from 1916 to 1946. His tenure is not only noted for helping the school navigate the Great Depression and two world wars but for doubling its enrollment from 447 to 929 and helping expand the campus by with buildings like Pfeiffer Hall and Merner Field House.
An architectural survey conducted by the city in 2007 cited Rall House as having potential for landmark status. However, university officials believe the need for a new dining and student activity center is a higher priority and it’s not feasible to use Rall House in that capacity, Godo said.
Additionally, having the Commons building at that site will more easily accommodate the many students who live in on-campus housing south of Chicago Avenue, he said.
“We have been in touch with the Rall family, and the Rall family understands that we’re going to remove the house. And, importantly, the house that currently is the president’s house on campus is going to be renamed the Rall House so we will continue to have a Rall House on our campus,” Godo said.
Oliver Hall has served as the home of NCC’s student radio station WONC-FM (98.1) since 1997. Schneller Hall will serve as the new station home, according to an Instagram post.
cstein@chicagotribune.com
