Excitement brews today at the Engineering Building and areas north for a groundbreaking ceremony for the College of Business’ new home, Barsema Hall.

Because of weather concerns, the private, invitation-only ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the main foyer of the Engineering Building, overlooking the future site of Barsema Hall, slated to open in fall 2002. A private luncheon before the ceremony will honor the Dennis Barsema family, donors of $20 million for the project.

David Graf, College of Business dean, said he’s thrilled about the new building.

“It will be exciting to see construction beginning soon and seeing the building finally take shape,” he said.

Attending the ceremony will be College of Business administrators and faculty, student leaders, NIU President John Peters and other school officials, DeKalb city officials, local politicians, Dennis and Stacey Barsema and their family members. Representatives of Pepper Construction and HKM Architects-Planners, who are designing and building Barsema Hall, will answer questions.

Ellen Andersen, NIU director of special events, said today’s activities will include a ground display of Barsema Hall showing the scope and size of the building.

The Barsemas’ donation was announced in September and is the largest gift in NIU’s history. Dennis Barsema is a 1977 NIU management graduate.

The hall will be the largest classroom building on campus and one of the most technologically advanced in the country. It will replace the College of Business’ existing homes, 40-year-old Wirtz Hall and 96-year-old McMurry Hall.

“The new Barsema Hall will allow the entire College of Business to be together in one big building instead of the current separation of offices and classrooms in McMurry Hall and separate location of the CPA Review, which is downtown DeKalb,” Graf said.

Graf said nearly everyone involved with the building has had input with its design and interior layout, including College of Business officials, faculty, students and the Barsemas themselves.

“The Barsemas have been involved in nearly all of the planning stages with the building, and they already feel like a part of the NIU family,” Andersen said.

Eddie Williams, senior vice president of finance and facilities, said building plans are going well and appear to be on schedule.

The finance and facilities department will oversee the project’s full development, work closely with building planners and designers and monitor NIU’s interest in the whole project, Williams said.

“I think when this facility is complete, the faculty and students will be very pleased with this state-of-the-art project,” he said.

Dirt will be moved on the Barsema Hall ground within the next couple weeks. The building will begin taking shape between August and

October.