The north side of Huskie Stadium may receive a facelift as soon as next spring, said NIU associate athletics director Robert Collins.

Plans are underway for an athletic complex beyond the north stands that would include a weight room, training rooms and locker rooms on the lower level. On the top level would be offices and meeting rooms.

The facility also would include a student-athlete support center, where athletes could utilize computers and tutoring, Collins said.

“It’s been something we’ve talked about since I’ve gotten here,” football coach Joe Novak said. “It’s a commitment we have to make if we want the program to grow.”

Novak said current facilities get the job done, but a better football complex would greatly benefit the program.

“What we really need it for is recruiting,” Novak said. “When kids are going on recruiting trips, a football team’s facilities are part of what they’re looking at, since they’ll spend a great majority of their time at those facilities. I’ve got 110 kids right now, and only 95 lockers. We don’t have room.”

The complex, which Novak said will cost about $7 million, will be paid for by private funding.

“We’re working on that right now,” Collins said. “We’re soliciting donations as we speak.”

Novak said the recent success of the Huskies football team has helped, but donations have been received for some time. At the earliest, construction could begin this spring.

“We’ve raised a considerable amount, and we’re certainly close,” Novak said. “We just need a few more large donors.”

The complex would be the football team’s place to call home, Novak said. But it also would be used by other sports.

No plans are in place for what is to be done with the currently unoccupied north stands at Huskie Stadium.

“Right now, we don’t have a plan,” Collins said. “We’ve had two sellouts without having to open up a questionable stands area. We’ve discussed the issues sellouts have brought to us. It’s just not the best time.”

The stands, which have been vacant since 2001 according to NIU Sports Information, are unsafe for use, said Collins. Before 2001, the stands were used as general admission.

“With the [unstable] ground under those stands, we don’t want to risk having people jumping and cheering on them,” Collins said.

Collins denied the claim that the stands were unused only because of the fear students in the area would rush the field.

“We can deal with that,” he said. “All we’d need to put would be a controlled group in the area, like the band or honors students.”