COD board agrees on Berg Center's size

It's on to the seventh draft for the massive renovation of the College of DuPage's Berg Instructional Center.

Trustees on Thursday agreed on the size of the largest of their construction projects to date -- 130,000 square feet of new space.

But they're still not exactly sure where it'll all go.

Architects, though, have the next six weeks to come back with a plan that adds the space onto the Berg, the Student Resource Center, the PE building and a new West Campus Community Center.

The project's estimated cost remains around $137 million.

Trustees saw the first three plans for the renovation and expansion in January. College administrators pitched a fourth this month, and trustees came up with their own a few weeks ago.

After the administration came back with an adapted version of the board's plan, trustees were set to decide between them Thursday night.

They didn't really decide, just approved the concept in theory.

The main difference between the last two plans was in the size of the addition to the Berg and the new community center. In the end, trustees said they like the size of the project and want architects to come up with a concept for making the best use of that space based on the school's programs.

Though a timeline for final designs places the board approving them in December, Tom Ryan, COD vice president for academic affairs, said he's hoping they can still come close to hitting that target.

The initial proposals for the Berg renovation ranged from $97 million to around $107 million. As the scope of the work has changed over the past month, so has the cost.

To pay for the added expense, the board proposes extending a $5-per-credit-hour fee that would remain in place for between 20 and 30 years. Trustees first instituted the fee in 2005 with assurances it would end in seven years. It was to help offset $23 million the state promised but failed to deliver to the school's overall plan.

Ryan explained to trustees Thursday that the cost of borrowing money for that work increases significantly if they stretch the student-funded loan out to 30 rather than 20 years. He recommended the board consider a repayment schedule of 20 to 25 years to cut down on interest. Trustees have not yet made a decision on the financing.