Everybody involved in the Hoffman Estates project is waiting for everyone else to make the first move.

Although NIU won’t open the new educational facility until 1992, a few things are being done to work toward the completion of the center.

“We are waiting on Sears,” said Thomas Montiegel, NIU Development and University Relations vice president. “They have to get design plans cleared through the Hoffman Estates Village.”

The project is still two years away, Montiegel said. “When the Town Center is complete, then we’ll go ahead,” he said.

The Town Center, renamed the Park Center, will consist of a hotel, health club, doctor’s office, a few retail shops and the NIU educational center, said Guy Eberhart, a Sears, Roebuck and Co. representative.

“Right now, the project is all conceptual ideas,” he said. “We’re waiting for approval from the village to proceed.”

While Sears is waiting for approval from Hoffman Estates, the village is waiting for NIU to do something, said Hoffman Estates Project Manager Mark Koplin.

“We’re waiting anxiously for NIU to submit an analysis for what they want to put in their building,” he said.

NIU will then need to get an architect in order to begin construction, Koplin said.

NIU, however, is waiting for Sears to complete the Park Center, NIU President John La Tourette said.

“We’re waiting in dealing with the design of the Park Center,” he said. “There won’t be day-to-day progress on the project. It’s going to take a couple of years.”

NIU and Hoffman Estates revealed the plans Sept. 17 after about a year of shushed planning.