Although NIU’s large construction and renovation projects this semester are being completed on schedule, the physical plant’s routine maintenance efforts have been hobbled by aging buildings and a lack of funds.

NIU Project Manager Conrad Miller said the semester’s largest undertaking, the Holmes Student Center renovation, is nearing completion, awaiting new windows and the addition of the pyramid-shaped copper roof.

“We’ve had some windy days which prohibited us from using the large crane, but we were blessed with mostly good weather and a good contractor,” Miller said, adding the center is expected to be finished over the break.

Television antennas for the residence halls are in place and extra workers will arrive next week to speed up window installation, Miller said.

The east campus steam tunnel project, begun in April, was completed, allowing easier heating maintenance for buildings such as Gilbert Hall, Miller said.

Other projects scheduled after the new year include the conversion of a Gabel Hall gymnasium to a dance studio, the beginning of the Martin Luther King Commons renovations and the completion of the Wirtz Quadrangle improvement.

In addition, the East heating plant, which provides steam to heat the entire campus, will receive a new feed water system designed to eliminate pitting in the boilers caused by air bubbles.

Miller said many of the physical plant’s difficulties stem from a lack of money to hire more workers and the maintenance problems of aging buildings. “Because the facilities are aging, we would like to be in a preventative mode to stay ahead of problems. Unfortunately, we have to react to such problems after they happen,” Miller said.

Some NIU streets need major repair, such as the section of Lucinda Avenue west of Annie Glidden Road. Miller said the streets, now badly cracked and pitted, were not designed for the present high volume of bus traffic.