NORMAL—NIU President John La Tourette defended NIU’s veiled secrecy in branching out to Hoffman Estates Thursday, while university officials and the village of Hoffman Estates aren’t sure which approached the other on the venture.

“It was their (Sears Roebuck and Company and the village of Hoffman Estates) decision to donate the land,” he said, which is why the project was kept quiet.

“The secrecy of the project leaked out last Friday but did not leak through any NIU officials or any Board of Regents members,” Board of Regents Chairman D. Brewster Parker said.

“The Board of Regents and the Illinois Board of Higher Education were kept informed of the project,” La Tourette said.

Hoffman Estates Village Manager Peter Burchard said he was not sure but he thought NIU approached Sears. However, NIU Provost Kendall Baker said it was “a mutual kind of thing with no formal approach process.”

Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves said, “Those who needed to know have been aware of the project’s evolution.”

La Tourette said, “It’s an innovative project combining NIU working with the village of Hoffman Estates and Sears to provide an education center.”

There are several stages to go through before the center’s completion, La Tourette said.

The first stage was the decision to go ahead with the entire project, La Tourette said. The second stage is to identify what the area will be used for, he said.

The value of the land is estimated at $750,000 to $900,000 per acre.

The investment “at this point in time is one to one-and-one-half million dollars,” La Tourette said.

Two hundred acres will go to Sears for a home-office complex, 25 acres will go to the Hoffman Estates Town Center and NIU will get three acres for the educational center.

The Town Center will include 17 acres for town shops, one major hotel and a conference center. Also included will be municipal buildings, shops, and restaurants.

NIU is hoping to get a bid from Sears’ contractors to lower the cost, La Tourette.

Roosevelt University in Arlington Heights has expressed concern with the NIU educational center being built, but “the market for education is there,” Groves said.

La Tourette told the Chicago Tribune he believes potential students should have every opportunity for access to higher education.

Protests are based on apprehensions of a larger enterprise than the planned center, he said.

“We’re reaching out to serve people who can’t travel to the NIU campus,” La Tourette said.

“We (NIU) want to provide a program that matches industry and business with people’s needs,” La Tourette said.

No plans were announced of when the construction for the educational center will begin.

The board acknowledged and accepted the land “to be utilized for the NIU educational facility and the support and cooperation that have been extended in this project,” the resolution stated.