A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Lillian and Larry Goodman Center at Roosevelt University, located at 501 S. Wabash Ave., took place July 31. The 27,834-square-foot field house, located at the southeast corner of Congress Parkway and Wabash Avenue, is home to Roosevelt’s 16 athletics programs and the first standalone facility for college athletics in Chicago’s Loop.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorated the opening of the entire facility, as the first-floor space featuring coach and staff offices, meeting rooms, team lounges, locker rooms, an athletic training area and a strength and conditioning center was completed recently.
The new center contains a multi-purpose gymnasium on the second floor, which was opened to the public for the first time on Dec. 1 to host the Roosevelt basketball teams’ games against Trinity Christian as the remainder of the building was built out. The gym, which features retractable bleacher seating for approximately 500 people and six retractable basketball hoops, is used for numerous Roosevelt activities in addition to being the practice and competition home for the Roosevelt Lakers men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball teams. The gym is also used by other Roosevelt athletic teams for team training, in addition to housing intramural events and hosting various campus functions for the entire Roosevelt community.
Larry Goodman, a life-long Chicagoan, entrepreneur, philanthropist and sports enthusiast, made the lead donation for the project to greatly enhance student campus life at Roosevelt. In honor of Goodman’s generosity and dedication to the Roosevelt community, the facility is named after Goodman and his late wife, Lillian.
“This building is more than a gymnasium,” said Goodman said. “It is a symbol of community and student pride for Roosevelt University. I was looking for a project where I could give back to the community – the City of Chicago – and this is it.”
