Building's nearly 70 year tenure comes to an end

A longstanding building on the NIU campus will be demolished in the coming months after spending nearly two decades in limited use.

The Board of Trustees approved the demolition of Kishwaukee Hall and the nearby radio tower at the June 25 meeting.

Though NIU intends to demolish the building as soon as possible, there is no date set because the contract to demolish the building is still waiting to be signed, said Eddie Williams, NIU executive vice president and chief of operations. Kishwaukee Hall and the radio tower will likely be removed before the end of the summer, Williams said.

Renovating Kishwaukee Hall would cost more than the property is worth, according to the BOT meeting handbook for June 25. Kishwaukee Hall is presently being used for fiber arts classrooms.
The College of Visual and Performing Arts plans to move the fiber arts classrooms to the Art Building, said Rich Holly, NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean.

Art students trying to find an emphasis were not exposed to the fiber art because it never made its way out of Kishwaukee Hall, Holly said. After the move, all aspects of the school of art will be in the Art Building, he said.

“We actually think the move will strengthen the fiber arts program,” Holly said. “We’re very excited about moving things to the main building.”

Built in 1940, Kishwaukee Hall was used as a coffee shop, the student union, and offices for the Northern Star and the two university radio stations, WKDI and WNIU, according to the NIU Regional History Center records. Most operations left the building in 1990.

Two conditions audits in 1989 and 1990 determined the building would be too expensive to renovate to code conformation, according to the condition audits performed by university architect Roland Screiber.

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