NIU officials will hold a ground-breaking ceremony for the Faraday II building Tuesday, although construction might not begin until September.

Eddie Williams, NIU vice president for finance and planning, said the ground breaking will occur early because a starting construction date is uncertain.

“We wanted to do it now—when the students and faculty are still here—because the bids could be finalized in the summer when everyone’s not here,” he said.

Mia Jazo, executive assistant for the Illinois Capital Development Board, said bidding for the project will begin in June or July.

There is an additional two months of paperwork and processing to determine who recieves the bid, Jazo said.

“September or October is when construction will probably begin,” she said.

However, Williams said the bids might go through earlier. Construction on the building could begin as early as August, depending on how fast the CDB acts, he said.

Williams said the ceremony will be held Tuesday because if the construction begins in the summer “no one is here” to appreciate it.

“We’re not sure when they’ll go into the ground, so we saw the potential for a problem and decided to have the ceremony for the students a little early,” he said.

Jazo said Chicago-based Holabird and Root, NIU’s architectural firm, will handle the project. The building’s design is already complete.

The project will cost $28 million and will double Faraday’s space. It will be a four-story structure located west of Faraday Hall and south of Davis Hall. A walkway will connect the two buildings and a new patio will join the mezzanines.