The Northern View Community project has turned into a long, complicated process full of mishaps and miscommunication.

Hopefully, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

After last year’s freezing cold winter and this summer’s rainy conditions, Northern View got behind schedule. In addition to the past year’s weather conditions, it took longer to get the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency building permit than was originally anticipated, and there were some supply shipment delays, according to Brian Hemphill, vice president of Student Affairs.

Many Northern View tenants experienced problems with their apartments when first moving in.

“My roommate’s girlfriend lived with us for two weeks because she lived in [a different building] and her apartment wasn’t ready,” said senior accountancy major Dave Kosmowski.

Northern View Resident Rochelle Larke at one point had mold in her living room closet and behind her bathroom toilet.

To date, the community center is not able to be used by residents. This is quite disturbing considering NIU’s focus on a unified community for Northern View residents.

Hemphill said in a Sept. 7 interview with a Northern Star editor, “We are anticipating everything being done the first week of October.”

On Oct. 29, boards still covered locations where windows at some point will be, and sod was starting to be laid out on the grounds.

To give Housing and Dining credit, they have been up-front about everything that was promised to residents and have not yet fallen through eventually fulfilling promises.

Some misconceptions have come about regarding the playroom and playground provided in the Northern View Community Center.

“We have been very careful to state in all advertising and literature that we are providing a playroom and playground, not child care,” Hemphill said.

Also, students who moved into the Northern View apartments were reimbursed up to a full month’s rent for the inconvenience they suffered, he said.

“All the publicity that has been used to promote the Northern View Community is accurate,” said Kelly Wesener, executive director of Housing and Dining.

When issues arose, priorities had to be made and some aspects of the project have lagged.

“The residential facilities were our top priority,” Hemphill said. “We want the students to be able to move into their apartments. The community center, gardening and grass were certainly a critical part of the building project, but were addressed after the apartment complexes were completed to satisfaction.”

This is understandable, but Hemphill should not have given residents hope that the center would be done sooner when there were extenuating circumstances beyond NIU’s control in consideration with this project.

Weather and late shipments sometimes simply cannot be helped. The estimation of time it should take to get a building permit sounds like a planning issue.

“When I first got here I was disappointed,” said Mia Boyd, sophomore elementary education major. “I didn’t really think the conditions were livable.”

The construction at the beginning of the year created an unreasonable and unacceptable living condition for nontraditional students with children, such as Boyd. After meeting with officials on the topic, though, Boyd feels like her needs have all been met.

“I had an issue with my lock, and it was done instantly,” Boyd said, “The community center is still not open, but they’re working to accommodate us. We got a parking lot, we got trees and we got bus service. I see stars and a sunset out of my window and it is the best view in DeKalb.”

As the complex finishes, it seems like residents will get everything they were promised and everything they need. If only it did not take so long to get there.

Editor’s Note: Rochelle Larke is also the business manager at the Northern Star.