Students might see an increase in fees next year if two capital improvement projects are approved by the Board of Regents today.

Plans to renovate the exterior walls of the Holmes Student Center, and plans to increase parking on campus were presented to the Facilities and Finance Committee of the Regents Wednesday. The committee decided to recommend approval to the entire board.

Sources of funding for the renovation are revenue bonds, NIU President John LaTourette’s report to the Regents stated. However, Regent Milton McClure questioned if student fees would be raised to fund the project. “It is our endeavor to keep student fees down as best we can,” James Harder, interim vice president for business and operations said.

NIU Student Regent Nick Valadez said students would prefer a long-range plan to renovate the tower, even if it involves a fee increase.

NIU is requesting an increase in the authorized budget for the renovation of the student center from $923,000 to $1,995,000, the report stated.

Harder said 75 percent of the increase NIU is requesting for the renovation will cover the costs of constructing a structure on top of the tower and the replacement of the building’s windows.

He said the structure will protect the mechanical equipment on top of the tower and the windows will be replaced with thermo pane because the single-paned windows are deteriorating due to the weather. Also included in the renovation plan is the replacement of brick with limestone and the removal of the balconies, he said.

The report stated sources of funding for the parking expansion also will come from revenue bond. The estimated total cost for the project is $1,250,000, LaTourette’s report stated.

However, NIU’s Ad Hoc Committee on Parking also has recommended, as part of the plan, that parking permit fees be raised. These raises include an increase from $150 to $365 for 24-hour red reserve spaces, an increase from $125 to $300 for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. red reserve spaces and an increase from $10 to $35 for faculty and staff permits. In addition, student permits will rise by about $24 and motorcycle permits will increase from $5 to $10.

“As we talked with students and faculty about the plans, we did not hear anyone complain about the increase in fees,” William Parker, interim associate vice president for business and operations, said. “They want to see a solution to the problem.”

Eddie Williams, vice president for finance and planning, said the fees collected from the parking stickers will be used to fund the final construction of the project, which will be a “self-supporting entity.”

Parker presented NIU’s plans for parking expansion on campus. He said the plan will provide for an additional 810 spaces for the campus in fall 1988.

The parking expansion proposal includes 364 additional student spaces to be developed on the west campus near the NIU physical plant. In addition, three other lots will be developed which include a 71-space student lot on east campus, a 205-space student lot on west campus and a 170-space lot on central campus for students, faculty or both.

In addition, NIU has requested that the board rescind its Jan. 21 authorization that an engineering firm be hired for brick removal of the student center tower replacement and instead employ the architectural firm Ware and Associates to develop project plans and specifications, advertise and receive bids.

Harder said Ware and Associaties will present a schematic design for the tower to the Regents in April. He said construction might begin in August and will run through the fall and winter.