The future home of NIU’s art gallery will be ready next semester after getting a facelift this summer.

The 95-year-old Altgeld Auditorium is undergoing a $355,000 renovation to improve lighting, add air-conditioning and restore the room’s antique look.

“We’re trying to make the old 7,000-square-foot auditorium look as original as it possibly could. We want it to resemble its earlier appearance,” James Bryant, the project’s manager said.

The gallery is moving to gain more space and make room for the Swen Parson Law Library’s expansion, he said.

The auditorium, used as several small studios by the Visual Arts department, underwent mostly cosmetic remodeling, Bryant said.

The room’s raised floor and fixed chairs were removed in 1975 and the art studios and partitions were taken out last year, Bryant said.

All the plaster was redone, the original hard-wood floor was refinished and track-lighting is being installed to shine on the artwork, he said.

“A major portion of the project’s budget is going toward an air-conditioning system which the auditorium has never had,” he said.

In addition, Bryant said the windows will be coated in a plastic film to block ultraviolet rays from entering the room and fading artworks.

White miniblinds also will be installed to further control the amount of sunlight coming into the room. The blinds are white to match the rest of the room which will act to make the colors of the artwork more prominent.

“The only thing in the room that’s not white is the floor, and even that will be restored to the natural wood-colors of the 1890s,” Bryant said.

Even the small amount of carpeting will resemble the colors of the wood floor, he said.

When the project is finished, the entrance area will be carpeted and new glass front doors installed, Bryant said.

“We want to finish the project this summer so the art gallery can move out of Swen Parson Hall before the remodeling of that area begins,” Bryant said.

NIU Art Galleries Director Lynda Martin said the official grand opening will be Sept. 26. “It’s going to be a gala splash and the public is always invited to anything we have.”

The project is funded through the Capital Repair and Maintenance Fund.