This is one part in an ongoing series analyzing campus projects that NIU’s Board of Trustees has requested. All projects would be completely or partially funded by state money. Legislators will decide the state budget in May 2003.

When entering Gilbert Hall, something that might grab your attention is the whirring sound of dozens of box fans in office doorways.

The former residence hall, now home to various campus departments, doesn’t have central air conditioning.

Instead, large air-conditioning pipes run through empty rooms and into hallways in order to keep the upper floors cool. The staff members who work in the building must walk around the giant metal cylinders to get to their offices or go to the bathroom.

Because of the building’s inadequate structure, NIU has made a request for state funds to repair and renovate the 52-year-old building.

“It’s been on the table for awhile,” said Patty Perkins, assistant to the executive vice president in the office of Finance and Facilities. “The mechanical systems, for the most part, are 50 years old. The electrical systems won’t continue to support our needs.”

NIU has requested more than $16 million from the state for remodeling the building, but the school’s wish list is long, and Gilbert Hall is near the bottom.

“It’s a very long-term list,” Perkins said. “It takes a long time to complete a major capital project from its inception … It can take up to 10 years.”

The planned renovations would redesign the office space in Gilbert, as well as replace the electrical and heating systems, add air-conditioning and allow for complete asbestos abatement.

Melanie Magara, assistant vice president of Public Affairs, works in an office in the lower level of the building. She recalls the heat being a problem after the building was converted from a residence hall in 1995.

“I remember a day when people were sent home because of the heat,” Magara said. “Once this became an office building and people were here during the hottest hours of the day … they needed a temporary solution to the heat problem.”

That’s when the large air-conditioning pipes were installed. The temperature is much cooler on the upper floors and it’s very stable in her office, Magara said.

The temperature is not the only issue that’s being considered, though. The asbestos used in the building’s original construction can make even minor repairs into an ordeal. When the Office of Procurement was moved in, its ceiling had to be replaced because of asbestos.

“We knew that we were going to have to add duct work to the ceiling for distribution of air,” said Jim Bryant, director of architectural services. “We knew we could not attach that duct work to the ceiling because it contained asbestos. At that time, an abatement project was undertaken before we started any work in there.”

Magara remembered when some rooms were sealed off for minor repairs.

“A piece of the ceiling [in a janitor’s room] had fallen in and, because it had asbestos, it couldn’t just be replaced,” she said.

Since the capital improvement request has been approved by neither the Illinois Board of Higher Education nor the state government, the university has not set any schedule for construction. In fact, the state budget crisis may keep any new plans from being enacted.

“It’s worrisome,” Perkins said. “It really is.”