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Altgeld Hall
Altgeld Hall

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News Release

Contact: Ellen Andersen, NIU Office of Special Events
(815) 753-1999

December 5, 2005

Altgeld Hall named top restoration project of 2005

DeKalb, Ill. — The re-birth of Northern Illinois University’s venerable Altgeld Hall was selected by the editors of Midwest Construction Magazine as the Best Renovation/Restoration project of 2005.

The project, which restored the building to its original grandeur while creating a functional 21 st century office building, took five years and more than $20 million to complete, but the jury of judges said it was worth the effort.

“They did a nice job of updating this building. The functionality is nice. The historical integrity is fabulous,” the judges said in comments accompanying their selection. The project is featured in a full-page spread in the December edition of Midwest Construction magazine.

The Altgeld restoration was undertaken to rescue the university’s landmark structure, which was badly deteriorated.

First opened in 1899, the “castle on the hill” originally housed the university in its entirety. It remained an important classroom building through the 1950s, but the conversion to administrative space was largely completed by the 1970s.

The interior of the building was remodeled several times over the years, but major structural problems went largely unaddressed. By the 1980s, the building suffered from water seepage, cracked plaster and badly outdated electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems.

Correcting all of those problems was no easy task as original drawings for the building could not be secured. The lengthy restoration required extensive research and the work of craftsmen ranging from stone masons to plasterers, painters and woodworkers.

The final product incorporates great attention to historical detail (most evident in the painstakingly restored auditorium that looks almost precisely as it did when the building first opened) but also took some liberties, most evident in the soaring two-story foyer of the main entryway (which replaced a cramped, low-ceilinged entrance) and in the new steel and glass atriums atop the building, which greatly enhanced the functionality of the building.

The newly restored building is a point of pride on campus, both for its beauty and the sense of history it affords, according to NIU President John Peters.

“The restoration of Altgeld Hall was an important step for NIU. It is a physical connection with our very roots as a university and we are proud to see the project recognized by the construction industry.” said Peters. “Altgeld Hall is not a museum, but a living, working public space where the roots of American higher education are still very much in view.”

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