The King Memorial Commons renovation, which will permanently close Carroll Avenue, will begin in mid-April.

Eddie Williams, vice president of Finance and Planning, said the cost of the Carroll Avenue project is included in the almost $500,000 commons renovation cost and will be done by the fall semester.

The renovation is funded by the Capital Development Board and the layout was decided by the board and NIU’s King Commons Committee.

“We have been waiting a long time for the opportunity to totally renovate the heart of the campus, but we never had the funds to do a full-fledged renovation before,” Williams said.

Patricia Perkins, NIU assistant vice president of Finance and Planning, said the plans include a newly-renovated bus turnaround area with benches, trees, extra lighting and two landscaped islands.

An island at the south end of the turnaround area will separate three parking spaces for disabled drivers from the Huskie Line buses, Perkins said.

Bus traffic will be routed around the second landscaped island located in the center of the area, she said. “The area will look so much better when the renovation is complete.”

Perkins said the service drive including Carroll Avenue from the Pow Wow doors in the Holmes Student Center to Founders Memorial Library will be landscaped with trees, sidewalks and additional lighting.

Emergency vehicles will still have access to the student center, she said.

The architecture, landscaping and design company of Perkins and Will, Inc. from Chicago was chosen to renovate the area.