The Board of Trustees at Illinois State University on Friday approved more than $84 million in design and construction services to build three new facilities for a new, integrated science complex.
The project will include a five-story STEM building, a new research and teaching greenhouse, and a three-story Science Laboratory Building addition with teaching and research labs and faculty offices. These will all happen around the current Science Laboratory Building.
Project funding comes from a combination of academic enhancement fees [AEF] that all students pay and that are dedicated to infrastructure projects, and state funding. ISU will issue debt for the projects and repay it with the AEF revenue.
ISU president Aondover Tarhule said, ideally, academic buildings would receive all their financial support from the state.
“However, in the state of Illinois there is a huge backlog of maintenance and construction projects for which the state should provide revenue. The money has not been provided,” he said. “In 2019, in order to help keep the facilities updated, the university instituted a fee that the board approved at the time.”
That fee is the AEF.
With solely that revenue used to pay debt, $7.1 million was approved for a research and teaching greenhouse and $27.4 million for a Science Laboratory Building Annex.
The $49.5 million for the STEM building is made up of about $29.2 million appropriated by the state's Capital Development Board, and the rest from AEF revenue.
Tarhule said in the board’s quarterly meeting the university hopes to build all three at the same time. They are projected to be ready for the Fall 2028 semester.
All three new facilities will be located in the same block along South Fell Avenue, West North Street and West College Avenue, where ISU's campus meets Uptown Normal.
STEM building and science lab annex
The STEM building represents the most expensive project, but also the most extensive one. The new building will be a five-story, 49,950-square-foot facility with eight science labs, eight recitation rooms and two large instructional classrooms.
Tarhule said it will replace much of the capacity of the Felmley Science Annex, first opened in 1963.
“Over the past 60 years, the building has undergone numerous incremental modifications without a comprehensive plan,” he said. “As a result, evolving pedagogical needs, aging and obsolete infrastructure, system failures and updated building codes have significantly diminished the facility’s effectiveness.”
Tarhule said the annex performs under university standards, reducing teaching capacity. Along with the new College of Engineering, he said a new STEM building is necessary.
The building also will increase accessibility in comparison with Felmley, with a second elevator and additional restrooms.
Joining the STEM building next door will be the new Science Laboratory Building Annex, another facility aimed at increasing ISU’s teaching and research capacity. It is attached to the existing Science Laboratory Building, and will contain four teaching labs, four recitation rooms, six research labs and six research offices.
“The addition will also provide a swing space to support a future renovation of the Felmley Science Annex,” said Tarhule.
Greenhouse
The new greenhouse will be located at 300 North Street, at the corner of South Fell Avenue and West North Street. The building currently there, which was constructed in 1949, has never undergone any renovations and now suffers from failing mechanical systems, said Tarhule, noting “…a deteriorating condition and an interior layout that no longer meets academic or student support needs.”
The building, originally a dental office, will be demolished. Demolition costs are included in the greenhouse’s budget.
The current employees in the building, who staff the Center for Civic Engagement at ISU, will be relocated. Vice President of Finance and Planning Glen Nelson said the university is considering the new building for the College of Engineering on General Electric Road.
Tarhule said the current greenhouse, attached to the Felmley Science Annex, also is outdated.
“Aging infrastructure, ad hoc modifications and [other] changes have significantly reduced laboratory capacity in biology and chemistry,” said Tarhule. “The original greenhouse has been deemed unsafe for teaching and is currently out of service, forcing the university to rely on temporary off-campus space.”
He said an additional greenhouse on campus is also nearing the end of its functional life.
Other business
For its other resolutions, the board authorized:
- Completion of a new comprehensive campus master plan, the first since 2011, to project to 2030. Tarhule said significant shifts in the university’s instructional delivery, learning environments, teaching technologies, space utilization, student support services, transportation and campus infrastructure warrant a new one. It will be informed by the current strategic plan. Funds will not exceed $1.5 million.
- A Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in film at the School of Theatre, Dance and Film, which previously existed as a sequence for students. Students now have the opportunity to major in film. They can focus on production, screenwriting or film study. Tarhule said student interest grew from 11 students in 2020 to about 124 in 2025.
- An upgrade to audio and lighting systems at the campus Center for Performing Arts. Tarhule said a requirement is required to bring the systems up to standards,noting they fail frequently. Earlier this year, Zeller Electric was chosen for the work but dropped its bid. Weber Electric was then chosen as the next lowest bidder, with a bid of $4.4 million at an increase of $1.2 million.
