Eastern Illinois University released its facilities reinvestment plan proposal which aims to improve facilities on campus such as residence halls, maintenance and space optimization as a part of Plan 2028.  

The proposal was completed in collaboration with Cordogan Clark and Associates, an architectural, engineering, planning and construction firm based in Chicago who helped survey locations around campus to prioritize which areas require more focus than others.  

Following the survey, the proposal was split into three parts: immediate actions, three-to-five-year goals and five plus year vision.  

Immediate Actions  

Housing and dining services will continue to be renovated, such as the recently updated bathrooms in South Quad, and evaluation options for housing facilities.  

Some of these options include decommissioning, or temporarily closing, specific residence halls to either reinvest and do repairs or demolish if they don’t meet the needs of the student population.  

Some residence buildings currently being eyed for decommissioning include the Triad, Powell-Norton, Lincoln Hall and Stevenson Hall, according to the facilities reinvestment plan proposal.  

In addition, Pemberton Hall is also planned to be evaluated for non-residential options.  

Executive Director of Housing and Dining Services Mark Hudson noted that while these projects are planned, changes won’t be immediate.  

“I’d like them done tomorrow, but some of the estimates for the housing stuff is a couple hundred million dollars,” said Hudson. “I would hope that we could start seeing happen by like the fall of 2027.”  

Classrooms and offices are being eyed to go offline, rendering them unused, in order to maximize campus-wide classroom usage to reflect the decreasing size of the student population. 

Executive Director for Information Technology Services Ryan Gibson said there are currently 222 classrooms on campus with 15 of them having zero usage already.  

In the next 12-18 months, EIU wants to move an additional 50 classrooms to being unused, Gibson said.  

There are plans to have at least 10 classrooms renovated within the same 12 to 18-month time frame, he said.  

No specific classrooms have been named to be taken offline as the university plans to defer to specific academic departments in order to identify which classrooms will be taken offline.  

This process will be led and determined by an upcoming evaluation task force that will be department specific, but no task force has been formed yet, according to Gibson.  

Decommissioning classrooms would not only condense space on campus but also expand the school day by holding more classes to help offer more periods at different times.  

“It really looks like the idea of really utilizing the space we have more effectively,” said Gibson.  

Further infrastructure is planned for immediate actions on campus such as reinvesting in the Physical Science building and evaluating Carmen Hall for future use and/or demolition.  

Three-Five Year Goals  

The upcoming years on campus aim to not only continue the immediate actions of reinvesting in areas on campus but also specify targets for decommissioning.  

Potential buildings that could be decommissioned include the Life Science Annex, Multicultural Center, Booth House, UPD and the Student Services Building, according to the plan proposal.  

Gibson, whose office is located in the Student Services Building, remains positive despite his workplace being listed for decommissioning.  

“From a campus [standpoint], we are better off from a financial standpoint if we densify our buildings,” said Gibson. “Any change is always a little bit scary, but I also think it’s a way to use our funding from both our students and from the state in a more effective way.”  

While Gibson remains positive overall, there are those such as Eastern’s President of University Professionals of Illinois Billy Hung who are concerned.  

“There’s a tendency to think of efficiency of use of the space as equal to optimal pedagogical use, and I don’t think those are always aligned,” said Hung.  

Hung agrees that conserving resources is a good idea but thinks the overall impact on campus needs to be considered as well.  

He said he considers Eastern a “brick and mortar university,” meaning there are physical buildings and historical landmarks for the campus population to see and interact with as compared to the sterile environment of an online university.  

“I feel like a campus needs to look and feel like a campus,” said Hung. “That’s the kind of thing I worry about. We don’t kind of miss the forest for the trees, so to speak.”  

Five Plus Year Goals  

After five years, the university plans to look back at decommissioned buildings to decide whether to reinvest in them or demolish them. No specific buildings have been named in the plan proposal. 

Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at lsbrewer@eiu.edu.