Members of the NIU community searching for a new place to eat, drink and reminisce about sports can stop looking.

Buffalo Wings and Rings, 232 W. Lincoln Hwy., has teamed up with the NIU athletic department to provide an atmosphere where a person can be completely engulfed in professional and NIU sports memorabilia.

Don Breitkrevtz, owner of Buffalo Wings and Rings, said he redecorated the side dining room and will call it the “Huskie Corner.”

The dedication of the “Huskie Corner” will be at 4 p.m. today at the restaurant.

NIU Athletic Director Gerald O’Dell will be at the dedication, as well as selected members of the athletic department staff and various coaches.

“I think these types of things are great for the university. Many students come looking for a sense of tradition,” O’Dell said. “We’re not trying to be like anyone else, we just want the community to support NIU.”

O’Dell said the room is not purely an NIU athletic department room. “There is professional sports memorabilia as well,” he said.

Breitkrevtz said he has been playing around with the idea since his restaurant opened in Dec. 1992.

“I got in contact with the NIU athletic department, we started talking, and it mushroomed from there,” Breitkrevtz said.

“The room seats 26 people, has its own TV and is decorated in red and black and NIU sports memorabilia,” Breitkrevtz said.

Darren Dunn, director of sales for the NIU athletic department, said he wanted to create the room because there was nowhere a fan could go to see NIU sports memorabilia.

“I went around to all the offices in the athletic department and collected things people had just lying around collecting dust,” Dunn said. “There will be autographed basketballs, footballs, trophies and other memorabilia on display.”

Dunn said as a benefit of having the room decorated with sports memorabilia, coaches will be able to use the room to take recruits for lunch or dinner, so they can see that the DeKalb community supports NIU sports.

“Coaches might also take their teams there for pre-game meals or team meetings. It is a great place to do that,” he said.

Breitkrevtz said the room will serve the NIU community as well as the athletic department. “We want anyone who is a sports fan or an NIU fan to come and enjoy the room,” he said.

Dunn said he encourages people to visit Buffalo Wings and Rings to show support of someone who supports NIU.

“(Buffalo Wings and Rings) has some of the best buffalo wings around,” Dunn said.

Breitkrevtz said Buffalo Wings are spicy chicken wings that originated in New York in 1958. The Rings are curly-que french fries the restaurant sells.

“We have three different styles of wings ranging from mild to extremely hot,” he said.