DeKALB | Renovations of the Holmes Student Center’s first floor are projected to begin during the fall 2017 semester.

The student center serves as a hub for NIU community members that features places to study, dining, shopping, a hotel and event facilities, according to NIU’s website.

NIU officials plan to eventually renovate the entire building, but have only received approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education for this first phase of the project, according to a Sept. 29 Northern Star article. Officials are hoping to save money from new food venues to fund the additional floors.

“The plan is to open up [the ground] floor,” said Alan Phillips, vice president for Administration and Finance. “One of the purposes of the renovation is to create a better flow through the building by opening up the space and making it a more usable and more attractive to students that use it.”

It is unknown what retailers and food venues will be added to the student center. A contractor is to be hired following the design process, which is expected to take two to three months. Negotiations are being made about pricing for a contractor, Phillips said.

The biggest changes will be in the bookstore and food court. Designers are hoping to remove some walls and open up the area from the Blackhawk Cafe to the bowling alley, said John Heckman, associate vice president of Facilities Management and Campus Services.

“In the current layout, there’s too many walls,” Heckmann said. “We’d like to take down a lot more of those walls to have a more open concept to the first floor. We want to open things up more to make it more obvious and apparent where people can go to get what they want.”

With the new layout that’s to be created with the $20 million project, more student organizations, including the Student Association, will be able to move its offices out of the Campus Life Building and into the Holmes Student Center.

“I think it’ll definitely help, especially for new people,” said sophomore biology major Kortney Maedge. “My freshman year, I was kind of confused about where [things were] in the Holmes Student Center.”