John Green Building set for use by upcoming College of Engineering

Photo provided by Tom Keyser

NORMAL, Ill. – The John Green Building has been reallocated and is awaiting renovations for Illinois State University’s upcoming College of Engineering.

The John Green Building is currently the home of the university’s Office of Energy Management, across the street from University High School on Gregory Street. It was originally a food processing facility for the school, but following renovations it will have labs, classrooms, offices and common areas for the College of Engineering.

Plans for ISU’s College of Engineering have been in the works for a while now. According to Dean of the College of Engineering Tom Keyser, the school is on track to accept the first incoming class of engineering students fall of 2025, whose classes will temporarily be hosted in Williams Hall. Work on the engineering builds is set to be done in the fall of 2026, at which point they will move there.

Engineering is a popular field and Keyser is hoping to appeal to new groups of potential students interested in engineering.

“I think there’s plenty of demand for students in the state,” Keyser said. “Lots of students that want to be engineers that maybe can’t get into other Illinois engineering schools for a variety of reasons.”

The college is set to contain three departments including General Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. Keyser is still in the process of hiring department chairs and other faculty, but the college remains on track for the original 2025 start date.

One of the main reasons for the new college is something Keyser is confident in is industry demand for new engineers.

“I can tell you from talking to local industry, there’s an extremely large demand for engineers,” Keyser said. “Everybody in the area, all the potential employers, are so excited for it.”