Project details

In spring 2023, demolition of Illini Hall was completed and Altgeld Hall exterior renovations began. 

The next phases of the project will be construction of a new facility on the site of Illini Hall and work on the interior of Altgeld Hall. 

Renovations and restorations for Altgeld Hall may include:

• Restoration of interior surfaces, such as the intricate floor mosaics, murals, paintings, and woodwork to their historic beauty
• Restoration of the Mathematics Library to its original grandeur including replacing missing glass floor panels in the stacks, restoring the open appearance of the colonnade to the east, and installing a back-lit glass dome to illuminate the atrium properly for the first time since the original glass dome was removed in 1942
• Cleaning of the pink sandstone exterior to bring out much of the original color
• Replacing heating and air conditioning throughout the building, vastly increasing energy efficiency, improving the classroom environment, and protecting the valuable collection of the Mathematics Library
• Providing two new elevators to make all portions of Altgeld Hall accessible

For additional information on the Altgeld Hall renovation, visit our Altgeld renovation details page.

View a virtual tour of the planned Altgeld Hall renovations:

Altgeld and Illini Halls serve together as home of the departments of Mathematics and Statistics. In the last 10 years, enrollment in both departments has increased 117 percent. Additionally, enrollment in mathematics and statistics courses has increased 40 percent in the last 10 years, with 80 percent of enrollment coming from other majors. Many programs outside the College of LAS require their students to take these courses.

This project will create a larger building in place of Illini Hall to accommodate both departments’ growth and includes a data science component that does not currently exist on campus. It will also provide faculty and students with flexible and modern spaces for interdisciplinary learning and discovery.

The projected cost of the renovations and construction is expected to be $192 million. Funding will come from the state, campus, and the generous support of alumni, friends, and corporate donors. Campus has already committed $27 million through the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment Oversight Committee, a group comprised of students and administrators. The commitment is contingent on the university securing the remainder of needed funding.

Our initial goal is to raise $10 million in private and corporate donations in support of this project.

The work in Altgeld Hall will place a high priority on preservation because of the building’s inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, while creating state-of-the-art classroom space for the thousands of students who take classes there each year.

After careful evaluation, the decision was made to replace Illini Hall with a new facility that will allow us deliver world-class educational experiences to more students and expand our research capacity in the data sciences. The limitations of Illini Hall were simply too extensive to overcome through renovation or reconfiguration.

We have been in communication with the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office to ensure that our design and construction process for the new building is done in a manner that respects and documents the architectural importance of Illini Hall and that also ensures that the historical role it has played here at the university is celebrated. We will work with ISHPO to develop a public plan for documentation of Illini Hall’s physical and cultural history.

As with past projects that involved the removal or substantial reconfiguration of older buildings on campus, ensured that the companies handling demolition of the building provided opportunities for architectural salvage of materials and features.

• A data science center that will serve as part of the Urbana-Champaign hub of the Illinois Innovation Network, bringing together faculty and students from across campus who are working in the area of data science
• Classrooms, seminar rooms, and informal conversation and tutoring spaces
• A colloquium room to accommodate public lectures by distinguished visitors
• New office space for faculty, instructors, postdocs, graduate students, and emeritus faculty to have office space in the same building

We post news about Altgeld Hall and Illini Hall in our news. Additionally, you can sign up for an email newsletter about the project to receive regular updates directly to your inbox.