Planning for a $2.7 million addition to Faraday Hall is underway and waiting for the construction approval of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

According to the Campus Master Plan Executive Summary, Faraday II will adjoin the hall, which is located on the east side of campus. The summary states the new structure will be “narrower and higher” than the existing building to provide suitable access and to preserve the landscape.

The Board of Regents Chancellor’s Report states the addition will provide Faraday with 114,986 additional gross square feet, including offices, classrooms and laboratories for both the physics and chemistry departments.

Eddie Williams, NIU vice president for finance and planning, said the expansion also will provide additional space for the science library. He said the library will either gain space in the new building or utilize space in the present science buildings that will be made available upon construction.

Williams said the planning for the project already has been approved, but the construction still is waiting for approval.

“I believe that about $945,000 has been appropriated for planning,” Williams said.

The appropriated planning money was funded in fiscal year 1987 but was not released until FY88, he said.

“If it (construction funding) is appropriated, we will have money next year to actually start digging,” he said.

Williams said the final project decision will not be made until the appropriations bill comes before Gov. James Thompson for approval or rejection in July, 1989.

The project can be “eliminated or modified” at any level, Williams said. He said the bill will not reach the governor until it passes through the Regents, the IBHE and the state legislature.

The Regents already have approved the bill, and it will be presented to the IBHE on Tuesday.

The plan summary states the funding for the construction is requested in the FY90 Illinois Capital Budget.

Williams said the plan also incorporates the repair of the existing steam tunnels which provide steam for Faraday Hall, Montgomery Hall and the Psychology/Math Building.

According to the chancellor’s report, the steam line that connects the science buildings to the NIU Heating Plant was constructed in 1962.

Williams said, “Systematically, we have been repairing and replacing the (steam) lines throughout the university for the past six or seven years.”

The present steam lines are buried and are not easily accessible for repair, Williams said. Constructing tunnels around the steam lines will make them easier to repair in the future, he said.

The chancellor’s report states water leakage in the heating manholes have provided evidence that the outer shell of the steam lines is deteriorating.

Williams said, “What we want to do (with the Faraday II project) is improve the capacity of the steam lines.

“These lines are due to be replaced. They only last so long,” he said.