NIU’s Rockford Education Center finally might get the green light from the governor and state legislature after more than two years of planning.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education approved a budget recommendation at a Jan. 5 meeting that asks the state legislature to appropriate $5.4 million for construction of an education facility in Rockford.

The 31,785 square foot center might be constructed next summer if the IBHE’s budget recommendations are accepted by Gov. Jim Edgar and the legislature.

The center would consolidate classes offered in the Rockford area, which are taken by approximately 1,800 students.

NIU President John La Tourette and State Rep. E.J. “Zeke” Giorgi, D-Rockford, both are cautiously optimistic about support for the proposal from Edgar and the General Assembly.

The Rockford facility was ranked 18th on a priority list of 28 capital improvement projects by the IBHE. The IBHE ranks the projects in order to prioritize them for the legislature and governor as to which projects the IBHE considers most important.

La Tourette said typically only the top six to 10 priorities receive approval from the legislature. However, he said this might be an “unusual year.

“State revenue is increasing due to the economic recovery and this may have some priority with the election coming up in 1994. This may be a year where the state would go higher,” La Tourette said.

He said the concept for a Rockford center was approved in September 1990. About $500,000 for the actual planning was frozen by Edgar but was released in December 1991, La Tourette said.

Rockford area representatives also are optimistic, according to two articles in The Rockford Register Star. Giorgi said the Rockford-area legislators would attempt to gain a higher priority rating for the center.

Giorgi also said if the economic climate continues to improve, the center has a good chance of approval.

“We’ll have no problems getting it through the General Assembly and then we’ll do our best to get them to release the money,” Giorgi said in a Jan. 6 Register Star article.

Giorgi sounded more cautious in an interview with The Northern Star Monday afternoon. “We’ve got a good chance, but I don’t want to get our hopes up too high because of the lack of dollars,” Giorgi said.

Giorgi also said Edgar’s desire to win more support in the Rockford area may increase the chances of gubernatorial support. “He’d love to break ground up here. That’s a very politically pregnant thought,” Giorgi said.

If the budget allocation for the Rockford center is approved by the General Assembly, construction could begin after July 1, when fiscal year 1994 begins.

According to an IBHE report, the center will have 13,500 square feet of classroom space, 2,950 square feet for laboratories, 2,300 square feet for offices, 1,500 square feet for a learning resource center and 1,250 square feet for general use.

A consolidation site similar to the one planned for Rockford was opened this fall in Hoffman Estates.