Dan Nadler hopes to start construction on a new Textbook Rental facility by December.

“We’re moving pretty aggressively to get it done,” said Nadler, vice president for student affairs.

The project is in the final phase of design, and the administration plans to go to the Board of Trustees in November for approval on a construction bid, Nadler said.

Prior to November, the administration will release a request for proposals for constructing the new facility for 30 days.

The administration will then review the proposals, with one company being selected to build the new facility, pending approval from the board in November, Nadler said.

If construction starts in December, the new facility should be complete in about 12 to 14 months, Nadler added.

Former President Lou Hencken made it a goal to build a new Textbook Rental before he left as president in summer 2007.

The new facility, which is slated to cost between $4.2 million and $4.4 million, will be placed off of Edgar Drive, near Greek Court.

View Larger Map

The construction will be paid through numerous sources such as capital money acquired through fundraising and student fees.

In April, the board approved a $1 per credit hour increase to the Textbook Rental Services fee.

Students currently pay $9.95, opposed to $8.95 in fiscal year 2008.

In April, Nadler said the increase would be used to fund the new facility.

He said when the new facility is built the university will have to pay off a loan needed for construction, and the $1 per credit hour increase will go toward paying the loan off.

After the loan is paid off, the administration will talk with the students to figure out where they want the extra $1 per credit hour to go, he added.

The original plan was to move the Honors College and the nursing program into the current Textbook Rental after the new building is built.

Blair Lord, provost and vice president for business affairs, said the original plan is still intact.

“We have tentative designs to do that,” he said. “We’ll continually review that.”

President Bill Perry said the university has to decide what it wants to do with Booth House, the current home of the Honors College, once the college is moved into the current Textbook Rental.

“We’re looking at options,” he said.

Perry added the university would have to first know when people and materials can be moved into the new Textbook Rental, and when the college and nursing program can be moved into the current Textbook Rental.

“Once you have a timetable for when Booth will come available, some work will need to be done,” he said.

The interior is in good shape, but the exterior would need some work, Perry added.

He said what would become of Booth House is undetermined as of now.

“We would have conversations within the university about what would be the best use of that space,” Perry said.

As for technology and the new facility, Nadler said the university is keeping track of technology developments such as the use of electronic textbooks.

“It’s going to be flexible to accommodate future needs – whatever they are,” he said. “That’s part of the planning process and trying to be on the cutting edge all the time.”

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7942 or at sdibenedetto@eiu.edu.