The NIU Board of Trustees has a cure for cold feet in Douglas Hall.

Next year, Douglas Hall’s A and B wing floors will be recarpeted, and the tile floors in the rooms will be carpeted, said Bob Albanese, associate vice president for Finance and Facilities.

The BOT approved the $300,000 move at its meeting March 18.

Recarpeting in the A and B wings will take place over the summer. The other two wings will be completed in summer 2005.

The tile floor won’t be torn up, Albanese said. Instead, carpet will cover the tile. Albanese said this costs less.

Albanese said bidding for the project will begin soon, and it may be done internally. The university has its own carpeting service located at the Dorland Building on campus.

The carpeting is part of a 10-year plan to improve the residence halls, said Keith Kruchten, president of the Residence Hall Association.

Funding will come from room and board rates that students in the residence halls pay, Kruchten said. Last Thursday, the BOT passed a 9 percent increase in rates for next year.

Currently, the residence halls are behind with the plan, Kruchten said. Increasing rates one or two percent every year rather than having a large increase will help the residence halls catch up, he said.

“If people want to see improvement, the rates have to go up,” Kruchten said.

Keeping up the new carpeting will not be a problem for university staff, Albanese said.

“We’ve got this cleaning service in place … that can maintain carpets at a higher level,” he said.

Albanese said the greatest challenge for the new cleaning service is sold in the hall.

“[Mountain Dew] Code Red is deadly on carpets,” Albanese said.