Less than a week after his 60th birthday, NIU football coach Joe Novak couldn’t hide his excitement about a present he’s waited years for.

Shortly before Saturday’s NIU intra-squad spring football game, administrators unveiled plans for the $9.5 million Academic and Athletic Performance Center.

The facility will be built behind the north end zone of Huskie Stadium when the $7 million campaign goal is reached – $5.1 million of which has already been provided by donors.

After the $7 million goal, the project will begin with the remaining $2.5 million to be raised by NIU athletics. No state money or student fees will be used, NIU president John Peters said.

Administrators urged private donors to help reach the remaining $1.9 million needed to begin the project, a figure Peters hopes to reach by the Sept. 3 season opener at Michigan.

“When that day comes, Joe Novak and I have keys to the steam shovel,” Peters said to a tent full of cheering fans, alumni and athletes Saturday. “We can have that building completed in 12 to 14 months.”

The 60,000 square foot project will include strength and conditioning facilities for all sports, football coaches’ offices, locker rooms and academic assistance centers for athletes, making it what NIU athletic director Jim Phillips hailed as the “jewel among athletic performance centers in the MAC.”

The three-level building will be topped off with a bronze Huskie statue by the locker room entrance.

“Over the last 15 years, our competition have added greatly to their facilities,” Novak said. “We have fallen behind.”

The $5.1 million already committed is led by 14 leadership donors, which include NIU alumni in the NFL – Ryan Diem of the Indianapolis Colts and Justin McCareins of the New York Jets.

Now, the public phase begins, which Peters hopes will come from from a large number of donors to create greater alumni ownership of the facility.

“We’re calling to action the Huskie family to make this dream a reality sooner rather than later,” Phillips said.