University officials are awaiting the next Illinois Board of Higher Education meeting in September, during which phase one of the Holmes Student Center redevelopment project will be put up for approval.

The project, which addresses the ground floor of the Homes Student Center, was approved by the Board of Trustees during a June 16 meeting, and is part of a multi-million-dollar plan to renovate the entire Holmes Student Center. For the total building renovation, the cost would be estimated around $100 million.

In order to seek approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, university officials must submit a request about the project by August. Work has begun on this request, said Alan Phillips, NIU vice president for administration and finance.

The Board of Trustees granted approval of studies and planning to begin for the redevelopment project during a June 2014 meeting, according to the June 16 meeting report.

“The project will be scoped to the amount of money that we have,” Phillips said. “We have a concept, and we will now go out and work with the architects and engineers to actually design the project and build the plans.”

A total of $20 million has been set aside for the project. These funds are from a set of Build America Bonds that the university invested in. The bonds are “taxable municipal bonds that have helped state and local governments (and NIU) finance public capital projects at lower borrowing costs,” Phillips said in an email.

The ground floor renovation is intended to address multiple initiatives, including providing better food and entertainment venues, creating an open-concept floor plan and creating more designated spaces for student groups, Phillips said. General building repairs are also to be addressed.

Until the Illinois Board of Higher Education approves the project, the university cannot move forward with construction initiatives, such as hiring contractors. When these steps are ready to be completed, the university will utilize Illinois procurement rules to guide the process.

“There will likely be a number of firms interested in working on this project,” Phillips said. “We will probably put out a request for proposal that outlines the project [after the Illinois Board of Higher Education meeting in September].”