Construction of NIU’s cancer treatment facility is on the horizon.

In 2006, the Board of Trustees approved the request to begin the planning and evaluation of necessary equipment needed for the proton therapy treatment center. The federal government has given a $3.3 million planning grant for the project, which will be built in DuPage National Technology Park in West Chicago.

Planning for the center began about two years ago, said Gerald Blazey, NIU Presidential Science adviser. Construction is set to begin in 2008, and the center is set to begin treatments in 2011.

The center will treat cancers in the head and abdomen, Blazey said. Proton therapy is a non-invasive procedure that radiates sensitive areas while leaving healthy tissue and organs unharmed.

The total cost of the center is expected to be between $120 million and $125 million, said Kathryn Buettner, vice president of External Affairs. Half the cost will be for the equipment needed, such as the accelerator and gantries (support frames).

“We expect building to be about $40 million, and we’ll probably need $15 million for working capital,” Buettner said.

Requests for the Fiscal Year 2008 budget have been put in for the federal and state government to continue planning and begin construction, Buettner said. They hope the requests will be approved by summer or early fall. These requests include $9.5 million from the federal and the state governments for equipment and project cost.

Funding for the center will be shared by the federal and state government and by private investors, according to the NIU proton therapy facility Web site.

“Our goal is to determine if the federal government will commit $20 million for the project and ask the state to commit to $20 million as well,” Buettner said.

The center staff is working on obtaining a nonprofit entity that will be the operating entity behind the facility, which they hope to obtain in about a year, Buettner said.