UI Board of Trustees Approves Assembly Hall Contract

The University of Illinois' Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a contract with a Chicago-based architectural firm to draft renovation plans on the Urbana campus' Assembly Hall.

The initial phase of project costs more than two million dollars. During Friday's trustees meeting in Springfield, U of I Athletic Director Mike Thomas couldn't lay out a firm timeline for when construction would begin.

"Well, I think it's difficult to say on the construction and final end," Thomas said. "It's really contingent starting today the opportunity to get the architects and engineers involved, knowing that they'll provide us with the documents to go out and sell the project, and then as soon as we raise the money and have a funding model in place, then we can put a hole in the ground, but I would say we could start the renovation project."

One renovation that's been talked about is air conditioning. The Assembly Hall, which was built in the 1960s, isn't used that often during the summer since it lacks air conditioning.