Editor’s note: On Friday, NIU President John Peters took the Northern Star on an intimate tour of the recently-renovated Altgeld Hall – the interior of which the public has not seen in five years. As the first media organization allowed in the building since renovation was completed, every day this week we will highlight parts of the tour and guide our readers through one of NIU’s landmark sights and greatest mysteries.

Five years after the beginning of an extensive renovation, workers Friday put final touches on the “castle on the hill” – a signature building that has stood tall since NIU’s predecessor made its mark on DeKalb in 1899.

Major renovations to Altgeld Hall, which originally were expected to cost $19 million and take four years, finally are nearing completion as NIU prepares for Altgeld’s first public event in the 21st century – the State of the University Address.

“Altgeld is the history of this university and it was a very challenging renovation,” NIU President John Peters said. “This building has stood for NIU for over 100 years. What we’ve done is freshened it up and renovated it for the next 100 years.”

On Thursday, Peters guided former Illinois governor Jim Edgar – who signed off on Altgeld’s renovation during his tenure – through the building.

“He was extremely impressed, and he was impressed with the public uses of this building,” Peters said, adding that Edgar described the work as one of the best renovation projects he has ever seen.

The entryway

Standing beside a rustic double staircase inside the building’s main entrance, Peters described Altgeld not only as an NIU building, but as a community building.

“So many folks have some kind of connection to this building,” Peters said. “Every day I’m walking through the halls and someone I don’t know will grab me and say ‘my mother or my grandmother took classes in this building and she is in a nursing home now and I’m writing to tell her about the building.’”

As Peters’ began walking toward the new staircase, he commented on several obstacles that impeded completion of the project, including a lack of blueprints for the building which were lost in a fire.

“The double staircase is one of very few examples where architects improved on the original,” Peters said.

Originally, a single staircase extended up story-by-story. Now, the building is graced with a soaring atrium noticeable as visitors enter through the main entrance.

Iron work on the railings are based on a slight alteration to the building’s original design – giving it a look consistent with the original.

Atop the staircase, dropped decorative ceilings hide the building’s wiring and sprinkler systems.

“Before the renovations, running down the sides [of the walls] were little bundles of wire,” said Melanie Magara, vice president of Public Affairs. “[Altgeld] has been divided up into every conceivable way for about every conceivable purpose.”

Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center

As visitors walk through the entryway, they ascend to NIU’s new Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, which used to be the building’s gymnasium.

NIU Historian Glen Gildemeister said students played NIU’s first softball game in the old gymnasium.

Now, the state-of-the-art laboratory is composed of about 46 “suitcase” workstations. These computers have flat-screen monitors extruding from the CPU that can easily be moved using a suitcase-style handle.

Modern, high-back rolling chairs are positioned in the center, which also features two 16-by-12-foot retractable screens capable of displaying two media sources at one time.

The center features audio control zones that allow users to adjust the sound in one specific part of the room. Users also are able to adjust lighting for several parts of the room by using various dimming and electric-shading settings.

The center also features a video conferencing center that allows as many as 12 people to participate in world-wide video conferences.

In the rear of the center, visitors are graced by an original staircase which was restored to highlight components of the building’s cherry-stained oak. “If you are a professor who wants to experiment with multimedia technology, this would be a good place to experiment,” said Murali Krishnamurthi, director of the center.

The Star will venture through the art museum and up the stairs in Tuesday’s edition.

A grand reopening

On Thursday, members of the NIU community will be welcomed “home” at the building’s rededication.

An open house featuring self-guided tours, documents and a commemorative booklet will be offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The building’s formal rededication will take place at 11 a.m. in the Altgeld Auditorium, followed by NIU President John Peters’ State of the University Address at 3 p.m.

Altgeld basics

Original building construction took 4 years, costing an equivalent of $5.2 million. Renovations lasted 5 years, costing $25 million in state funds.

Named for former Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld, who created NIU and other teachers’ colleges in the state.

First entering class had an enrollment of 146 women, 27 men. The university currently has about 25,000 students enrolled.

The building is comprised of three main stories.