UPDATE: Blagojevich to ask for $40 million for new NIU academic building

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By Benji Feldheim - Daily Chronicle DeKALB - Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced Wednesday he plans to ask the state Legislature for a $40 million to build a new academic building to replace Cole Hall. A classroom in Cole Hall at Northern Illinois University was the site of a Feb. 14 shooting. The funds would be used to build a new classroom building as well as a memorial after Cole Hall is demolished, the governor said. Classes resumed at NIU on Monday for the first time since former student Steven Kazmierczak, 27, walked into a lecture hall in Cole Hall on Valentine's Day and opened fire, injuring 16 students and killing five before turning the gun on himself. University officials plan to keep the building closed for the rest of the semester. Plans to demolish Cole Hall were announced Wednesday morning. A memorial to the victims of the shooting will be built on its site, officials said, and a new classroom building will be constructed somewhere nearby. Final plans for the memorial and the location of the new building have not been decided, officials said, but the new building will be built in the same central area of campus. Blagojevich was joined at the press conference in front of Cole Hall by NIU President John Peters, Student Association President Jarvis Purnell, state Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, and state Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Hinckley. Demolition could be as early as late spring, with construction slated to begin in June 2009, university spokeswoman Melanie Magara said Wednesday morning. If construction stays on schedule, students could occupy the new building in December 2010.

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