Wheelchair-accessible car park
Yes
NIU Convocation Center in Dekalb
Categories
Location on the map
Dekalb, DeKalb County, Illinois, US
Accessibility
Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Yes
Comments (199)
Great organization and nice convocation experience at NIU. Big place and nice ambiance. Ample sitting arrangements and all the associates were helpful. Only thing would be more helpful is some sort of covered parking! It gets very cold in Dekalb
Great venue for a graduation ceremony. Plenty of seating. Easy to get to.
Very nice facility for just about anything. Sound was good and no visual obstructions.
Came here for my daughters cheerleading competition. Bathrooms were spotless and the staff was very nice. Pizza is a little pricey but whatever lol
This place was so awesome an big my daughter senior graduation was here an she will be coming to NIU for college
Nice ceremony. Just a little warm inside but overall great experience
I attended my daughters cheerleader competition here. I loved the arena. I think the security did a good job of getting everyone through at a good pace. It was comfortable and spacious. Good bathrooms and lots of exits around the arena to help avoid bottle necks.
Really well organized,staff is helpful and the entire place is clean top down!
1 star because of the people working there not showing respect to people. The place itself is great.
Good Sycamore High School Graduation Went Really Well Congratulations to all the Graduates
People in charge should have had people directing guest to more than one entrance
It is a place with a lot of space for people que asistimos a los eventos
So impressed with how smooth today’s cheer competition was run. The convention center was super clean with sanitizing stations abundant. Plenty of parking & easy to get to. Wonderful to watch our girls do what they love in a clean & safe environment.
It was clean and good chairs
Their organizations skills are very low if any. The way they make you park on one side but make you walk around the building to get in. They charge 10 to vet in but pot holes all over the ground. More noticeable on rainy days when puddles of water are everywhere.
Parking lot has some big potholes. Did have clean facilities and hallways. The seats were quite small and felt like sardines in a can
Easy access, ample parking, nice venue overall.
High School graduations were held here. I think they had three in one day. At one point the sound system was terrible but they seem to get it straightened out.The graduation ceremonies were held here because of the covid. Trouble was they had everybody stacked in one area of the Arena. That was a bit of a snafu. The working staff were kind and helpful. The facility was clean. If youre considering using this I would recommend it but make sure good sound man is on hand.
Was a big place was surprised it was plenty of room for the wrestling matches for state
Very clean, nice and comfortable organized place .
Nice and spacious. Lots of spaces to park your car close by
Fie me ordering tickets online was slightly confusing so I went to the Convocation Center and gor tickets. The guy at the window wad very helpful and friendly. The security was also friendly and helpful.
Got covid vaccine booster there, signed up at the health department on Annie Glidden rd
Easy parking, great for any event
I worked here as security and it was a great working experience! The inside is cozy still even with so many people it was not too hot or too cold and it was an easy in out situation when working here! I loved it.
There security employees were completely unpleasant.
Dog show. Nice facility, parking and venue.
Wonderful place where my daughter graduated from
Clean, ample parking, love the architecture
NIU was where my first and second vaccinations were scheduled, at the same time.I arrived early for the second Vaccinations on March 3 for a1:45 appt and the whole concourse and parking lots were closed. I dont drive at age 71 and this was a major mistake.
Yeah! its really great place. Where you could find everything related with athletic. They have an wonderful Arena.
Our kids could not bring in lunches and were forced to eat greasy nasty food.
Nice clean facility. We attended for the POP Warner Regional competition. Beautiful facility.
Had a wonderful time for my daughters graduation from high school it was a very large space for a very large event!The place was packed, but we managed to all fit!Thanks for a memorable night with my family, in a very clean & ample place!
Great place to get a Covid vaccination. My wife got both of hers there.Some years ago, DeKalb Co. Health Department, with DeKalb Co. ESDA and DeKalb Co. ARES (amateur radio) had a practice mass inoculation drill there. Im glad to see some of that paid off.I hear there are basketball games and other stuff there, but Ive never been to those.
Beautiful and well laid out place
Since I was only there for my first of two Covid vaccines, I cant really comment about events being held here. What I can say is its easy to find, easy to get into and easy to navigate.
Very nice campus for a graduation
Pros: I love the fact that they hold the graduations here, so no tickets are required to accommodate families. They have parking attendants that direct traffic so that the lot isnt a mess.Cons: The seats are quite uncomfortable for a reasonably tall person. Dont wear certain slacks, or youll be sliding off the seat. The sound system sounds like a McDonalds drive-thru. The temperature seems to be pre-set for the season, not regulated for the room, so most of the time its too hot or too cold.
Nice facility, graduated here. It can be a little tight and cramped in the lobby and waiting area after a major event. Overall, they are very efficient in the graduation ceremony. My family was impressed.
Nice facility! Great accoustics! Parking lot could use a resurfacing but there is a lot of it. We were easily and rapidly accommodated. Seating is comfortable and access to seating is good.
Went there for 1st Covid vaccine and it was a very well run and efficient experience. Everyone was very kind and helpful. Already signed up for the 2nd vaccine.
My daughter had her high school graduation here. Just an average indoor college stadium. About the right size for NIU. The bathroom situation is horrible. It was packed and there was no where close to enough bathroom access for women. Only two or three family bathrooms. The seating in the stands for the elderly was non-existent. Parking entrance was easy, it was the exit that got us. I smoke and was headed outside to smoke when this gigantic security guard started yelling at people about the no re-entry policy and if we went out we wouldnt be allowed back in. Im glad thats over until my 16 year old graduates.
Beware the parking lot -- there is minimal labeling, NO map inside or out, and access doors in order 4-2-5 in circular pattern! I never found #3. The staff was obviously charged with hustling people out. Consider 3000-4000 people and 800 graduates milling about trying to meet up and 95 degrees. I will never go back.
Parking is not designed for events, taking hours to park everyone. Stadium seating is horrible: Hard, smelly, wobbly. Sound system is way too hot, even people speaking is distorted and clips
I was here for the IESA state wrestling tournament. The arena is large and open. Workers were friendly and helpful. The only issue i had was the food offered. In the sport of wrestling nutrition is vital. Wrestlers are not aloud to bring in outside food however, there are very limited options for healthy eating.
Had a ceremony here- lovely venue and very spacious! Excellent place, highly recommend.
Attended my granddaughters cheerleader competition here. The amenities were great.
Typical sports and event venue... nice folks
This is the venue for the graduation of the yorkville students. Very big and modern facility. Had a great experience for this important event. Concessions a available and restrooms. Very secure event.
It’s fine for a convocation center. The seating is comfortable but confusing to know where your seats are at. The parking is a bit confusing too. The entire layout, honestly. But that’s kind of what you get at a convention center. It does the trick.
The floor seats were horribly small and so close together. They were those cheap metal fold outs. You couldnt move them and you can tell how everyone was uncomfortable. I WONT be going back there!
Perfect parking all organized, good wheelchair parking. They dont let you bring in outside food so they can charge you overprized water inside. Sneak in under dresses i would say. Very organized outside directions and parking.
Not a bad seat in the house
Went here for a Harlem Globetrotters game. It is 15.00 dollars to park so bring cash. The seats are plastic and rickety. The concession food was okay but one of our group got a piece of pizza with an uncooked crust. The bathrooms and center is clean overall.
Terrible parking for handicap people event seating for handicap is small areas not clearly marked, very rude staff outrageous pricing for food warm bottled water for a cost of 3.00. Senior pricing should be clear age requirements. Very poorly run.Would not recommend attending any events there. Patrons are treated like they are unwanted. (they also search purses)
Oversized garbage can. Horrible experience at my daughters HS graduation. Cheap and thin plastic seats...zero legroom...literally the entire row in front of us buckled severely into my familys legs when one person sat down. Jumbotron (I use the term very loosely) display is tiny, cropped and pixelated...reminds me of Madden 95 quality graphics. Dont even ask about the acoustics...there were none. Cannot believe this facility is used for D1 basketball and so many graduation and events. Would rate it 0 stars if possible.
Attended a cheer competition there, plenty of room, clean bathrooms. I was happy they accept credit cards at the food stations. Only downside is paying for parking.
Fun time! Get loud!
Very nice
Open for covid vaccine! Everybody did a great job. Very organized and everybody was very polite.
Very organized and efficient and caring Covid-19 vaccination process. Thank you for all involved. Bless you!
The Convocation Center is a beautiful building and has great Events but its to bad they dont pay their dedicated staff better.Years of service with no raise at all still working for the same wage they were hired for.Thier Event staff and parking get no benefit and are the back bone to events and are not shown with even a penny found in the budget to give them a raise. Sad but true.
Indoor arena used for basketball, volleyball, track, and various events. Currently used as dekalb county’s covid vaccine site
Big convocation center. Sound system is very low and couldnt hear what speaker says. Large screen TV is ook but very low resolution. Parking and facilities are excellent
Commencement: people in the audience were shouting like farm animals whenever a name was read. We get it, college isn’t a dignified or respected thing anymore, but do you really have to remind the folks about this as they receive their degrees? The speeches from staff and educators were terrible. How these people were able to enter academia I’ll never know. TV monitors were terrible qualify, almost impossible to hear clearly, and of course the farm animals arriving late provided ample noise to cover the sound of professors “inspiring” us.Entering and leaving the venue: directional signage was pretty bad. Getting in and out was a joke. Most people leaving the ceremony reverted to driving over the grass/road barrier to exit the line that wasn’t moving for over 30 min. Between this and people acting like animals during the ceremony, I think it’s better that I sit the next one out.
Oswego Community High School Graduation 2018. Run relatively efficiently, with usual crowd management delays for 2000+ graduates plus family members. The Police marked the route to this venue very well that day. DO NOT try to meet up with other parties in the parking lot. The place is really huge, with very large East and West lots, and East and West Visitor entrances. Cell Phone service mostly stops working on such occasions.
For the Trevor Noah show the parking staff opened ONE entrance and made us late for the show. There are multiple entrances to the convocation center for visitors to pay and park. Ill pay your parking but will you give me a refund to be late to your show?
The seats are VERY uncomfortable so bring a pillow or two for support. Also the acuostics have too much echo.The convocation center was super difficult to find and the signs are misleading Google maps helped me out more than the signs. The stands are very wobbly too.
Plenty of parking, clean, well lit, bathrooms were clean. Was there for a high school graduation. Lol did not like the bleachers.
Went for graduation festivities, great place. Friendly staff. Clean bathrooms.
It was a nice place the parking was easy people were helpful the only drawback to this place was it was so cold and when you have seats down in the middle theyre all hooked together and theyre just a little too close
Very nice stadium. It can hold a lot of people. Easy to get there. The parking lot was a good size.
The seats are rickety and broken. Was pretty certain I was going to fall on the floor! I was with my elderly in-laws. Was worried that they were going to get hurt. Pretty sad seating situation.
Really nice stadium. Wished theyd get a good bball team so i could see what it was like with some atmosphere
Went there for my first and second covid-19 vaccine. Everyone was very polite and caring
Yes this is quite a distance from me but when I go is for a reason NIU Convention Center has host great events from stem for kids 2 day camps.
One of the best venues in the MAC. A shame students & townspeople dont fill it for events. Lots of parking. Staff friendly, professional
Nice convention center, but it gets crowded fast and parking is a nightmare
H. I. Stone and Sons, would like to thank the N.I. U. Condo Center on hosting the Farm Show the last few days. The staff and every condiment I could ask for was top notch. President. Brad Stone
Friendly staff amazing game
STEM Fest was an Excellent educational time for us and our 6 yr old son. We will definitely return!
Great open space. The only thing are the seats. Bring a pillow or some kind or foam padding if you are gonna sit down for more than an hour.
Nice place for graduation!! But the chairs were a little uncomfortable and tight!!but beautiful ceremony!
Nice venue for sporting events, concerts, large marketing and specialty gatherings. Parking process and pricing needs improvement.
Loved the place. Had my graduation walk there. Job fairs are arranged as well. Proub to be a HUSKIE forever.
My sons GRADUATION CEREMONY from BATAVIA High School was held here. Accommodations, parking, etc went well with NO PROBLEMS !
I have attended 2 graduations here and the building is nice and the ceremonies are always up to part😎
The staff, security are awesome Traveled here for a cheer competition . Love this place the place is super clean and each year the staff is amazing
Broken seats..uncomfortable
Went got my my first vaccine shot there it was done professionally
We went to a Cheer competition there. The parking was convient and the facility was roomy, clean and had good seating.
Very nice clean environment. And appropriate for what I went there for. My daughter Graduation.
Bathrooms very clean. Parking was easy. Seating is close together and a little uncomfortable.
Very nice for events like East Auroras graduation. Air conditioned and spacious.
We had and assembly here if it wasnt for the meeting I would complain more about the hard seats. We took coussions. 😂
We had a great time at WWE live. Hope they continue to book more events!
Went to have 2nd covid shot. Waited outside. Nice weather.
Nice place for graduates to begin their futures! Excellent music venue as well!
Very nice school, huge campus!
Parking is terrible. Stage is poorly situated for events. Bathrooms are very hard to find and scarce. Architect should be fired.
Awesome place to watch an event and was nice and clean
I have been there for cheerleading. Very fun time. I like how nice the facility is.
Had plenty of parking, handicap accessible, clean restrooms, enjoyed being there
Great venue. Simple layout. Great staff. Easy and fairpriced concession. Great seating.
Saw Trevor Noah here. It was great. Waking out of arena with everyone took forever.
Received my Covid-19 vaccine fast and easy.
I needed information so I called hoping to purchase tickets. I had two questions and the customer service rep did not give me a chance to ask them. He pushed me off the phone and told me to call a different office. Did not explain which office to call, and hung up.
Was there for Huntleys graduation. Nice facility, but good luck finding your entrance!
Nice venue, parking was easy and the views from all seats looked great
Nice place, doing more with it would be much better for DeKalb....need major concerts.
Fairly new center. First grandsons high school graduation.
Nice places but never have people I wanna see
They give you a lot of information about if you are interested in starting College their mechanics program is really awesome
Love it
Went there for both covid vaccines. Staff went above & beyond!
Gray space to watch wrestling !!
Easy spot to get in and out of. Sell cold beer. Place was very clean.
Had a great time Photographing the cheerleading competition all weekend. Nice venue.
Attended graduation ceremony for family.. Nice tidy place with ample parking..
First time I was there it was very nice lots of room for graduation
Great ride from Elgin! Beautiful country. Beautiful place for a graduation.
Donalds. Hsd a great time seeing trevor Noah! But the seats are uncomfortable.
Just went for the vaccine. Went smooth. Now we wait.
Was here for my nephews High School graduation. Nice place.
Went there the other night for the NIU Basketball game and had a great time
Went there for Trevor Noah talk show. Great place in the middle of no where.
Got that Moderna! Call me Future, cuz Mask Off!
The best time of my life, watching my son cross the stage to get his degree!
Decent space for events. Concessions were too expensive and food lacked quality
Awesome, my son attended this University a couple years ago.
The Convocation Center is a beautiful building that is wonderfully maintained and always an amazing experience!
Good place for a high school graduation. Traffic control is lacking.
Really enjoyed going here lots of family fun
Great view no matter where you sit, love the Jumbo-Tron
Its a nice place but the seats are loaded hard and uncomfortable.
Large stadium, seem to have a ton of history. But low stars because it need remodeling, seriously outdated.
Pretty neat place. Neat as in nice and tidy, but also as in sort of interesting.
Seating was extremely uncomfortable. Audio difficulties lead to a delayed start to the event.
Great location for big events like graduations...
Good sightlines clean restrooms nice venue
Plastic flimsy seats, horrible PA system.
It was butiful
A great venue for concerts or large events!
Nice and clean environment and has good seats
Stemfest was wonderful. Im looking forward to next year.
Graduation 2021. My baby boy.
Its a graduation venue ... exiting was a challenge, but not unexpected.
Graduation poggers
A modern center. Well designed. Ample parking space.
Place needed to be cleaned better. Could use some remodeling.
Place is nice. Holds great events
Please fix your seats! Half of them are broken and make you lean forward.
Its good place for NIU grad ceremonies.
Enjoyed the venue center is handicappe accessible
The seats could be alot more comfortable!!
Horrible experience with their customer service, we paid way too much to bring boys for state meet and been treated horribly, filling harassing claim.
Great place to have a graduation ceremony
Got a Covid shot went as quick as it could
Great place for a high school basketball ball tournament
Clean environment with good seat views.
Food was great for arena foodSchool staff could be more helpful
Sound system ruined the graduation ceremony. Use a different venue.
Great venue for being way west of Chicago!
Clean, tons of activities, lots of people to ask questions to for the event I attended
Huge parking lot and great place for events
Very nice for a smaller indoor stadium
Great place
Good, clean facility, easy access and parking
An awesome place to go to to watch any event but the concession is very expensive
It is an outstanding facility that supports this world class university
Its a nice place for convocation ceremony.
Accommodated 2018 graduates class very nicely!
A bit chilly when smaller crowd. Easy to navigate.
Very organized for covid shots
Seats are cramped but the venue is very clean!
Cheer competition good setup very well organized
Great venue for most any event!
Enjoyed watching my Nephew Graduation Ceremony
Ok it was cold they need to turn on heater two hour ahead
Its hell trying to get out of the building and the chairs are a bit uncomfortable.
Have seen a hand full of concerts here. Acoustics suck
Went for a graduation. Great place.
I was just there to get vaccinated.
Nice venue, but horrible seats.
Nice and big court and auditorium!
Great parking and ample seating
Seats are terrible if you have to sit for a long time.
As usually nice location for highschool graduation
Total reviews rating 4.4
199 Reviews for NIU Convocation Center 2023:
Review №1
2022-06-04Wonderful place for large graduation, the class was 700 students graduation in each student got 10 ticket so for friends and family to come. every seat that was available seem like it Westfield, behind the stage there were more seats.. so it is a very large auditorium/stadium.
Review №2
2022-05-31Parking was easy, good signage and direction to enter/exit facility. Good seating, maybe more leg room needed but not a big deal. Lots of ways to see action on the video screens. Great place for our Metea Valley High School Graduation ceremony.
Review №3
2022-05-16Went there for my God Daughters College Graduation. First time there. Was very organized and very spacious. Also, very clean. Definitely worth the trip!!!
Review №4
2022-05-22Was here for my nieces graduation. Plenty of parking. Easy access and handicap access. Very clean facilities. Fairly quick exit. The main hang-up was the traffic jam on Gooding Road leading up to the left turn before the Convo Center. Dekalb really needed a couple of traffic officers to help at that intersection.
Review №5
2022-05-21Went for my granddaughters high school 🏫 graduation. Very large area for this event. E erything went smoothly. Not my first time here.
Review №6
2022-05-31Been to SIU and NIU for graduations this year and NIU doesnt equate to SIU facilities. One seat in our row was broken and the seats felt very flimsy and uncomfortable. Ingress and egress was handled well. As a Huskie alum, I was disappointed with the experience.
Review №7
2022-05-25Was there for graduation ceremony. big place had the jumbotron so you could see stage up close also electronic board with what was being said for the hard of hearing.
Review №8
2022-06-05The width of the seats is great but expect less leg room than a plane ride
Review №9
2022-02-16I wouldnt be an expert reviewer as i have never been to many arenas lol
Review №10
2022-03-12Way under staffed for the state wrestling tournament 2022. We waited up to a hour each time in line for consession stand. Two open, one with one staff member doing it all. This is very disappointing when you come to watch your loved one wrestling and you spend half your time in line at a consession stand because your NOT allowed to bring anything in...absolutely unexceptable!!!😔