University - General -- Publications -- History and Development

Historical note

At the end of World War II, the University of Illinois opened a two-year undergraduate division at the Navy Pier campus to accommodate the large number of Chicago-area college students and returning veterans who wanted to take advantage of the GI Bill. By the early 1950s, student demand had sufficiently outstripped Navy Pier's capacity, so the University initiated a search for a permanent four-year, degree-granting campus in the Chicago area. The site selection process stretched over ten years. University officials considered several sites, including Garfield Park in the West Side of Chicago and suburban Riverside, before settling on the city-recommended location at Harrison and Halsted. The decision to move forward with the near West Side location proved to be controversial, as area residents vigorously opposed the potential uprooting of their neighborhood. Despite protests by community leader Florence Scala and lawsuits filed by a neighborhood community group, the city council and University trustees approved the site. The new Chicago Circle campus opened in 1965.