Plans for the construction of the Campus Life Building have been finalized and the shovels will break ground sometime in April.

Plans for the building were finalized at the December Board of Regents meeting. The budget was approved at $7.95 million, which was acquired through a bond refinancing NIU underwent recently.

Patricia Perkins, assistant to the vice president of Finance and Planning, said bids for the general contractor are scheduled to be opened in March.

“Once the bids have been opened, it should take three to six weeks for the contracts to be settled,” Perkins said. “Construction should start some time in April, hopefully.”

John Pembroke, vice chancellor and Regents treasurer, said once construction starts the building should be completed within two years.

Construction originally was hoped to begin in March, but was pushed back to April as plans were finalized. However, the shift in the projected construction date does not signify any major problems.

Perkins said the final plans have not had major alterations from the ones which were presented in December.

Pembroke said the December plans essentially represent the building which will be constructed.

Perkins said nothing major has been changed. “The only changes that were made were the fine tuning of certain aspects of the interior of the building.”

The list of campus organizations scheduled to be housed in the Campus Life Building has not been altered either, she said.

The finalized list includes offices for the Student Association, Campus Activities Board, Counseling and Student Development Center, Career Planning and Placement, University Programming and Activities, U.S. Geological Survey Department, The Northern Star and the University Honors Program.