University officials on May 13 revealed updated design plans for Residence Hall No. 3, as part of the Ikenberry Commons project.

The new residence hall, which will be located on the corner of Gregory Drive and First Street, will use a “pod” concept, offering at least four double bedrooms in each pod with four smaller, semi-private bathrooms, officials said at the Board of Trustees’ Audit, Budget, Finance and Facilities Committee meeting. In addition, accessible single and double rooms will be located throughout the hall but not available in all pods.

The residence hall will be built in a “T” shape, with the base running along First Street. This design calls for a change from the original plan in 2010 in which the residence hall was planned to be built in an “L” shape. This change was made to provide more open space in the quad-like area directly south of the Student Dining and Residential Programs Building.

In addition, the University is moving forward with plans to install a new underground stormwater detention system, just west of the residence hall, underneath the playing fields. This development, along with new turf for Campus Recreation, is set to add $3.17 million to the project, pending approval by the full board at its May 29 meeting in Chicago. The added cost would bring the total to $83.2 million for this phase, which the University plans to pay for with revenue bonds.

The new hall, which has yet to be named, will offer 497 beds and is scheduled to be ready for the Fall 2016 semester. Along with the new hall, Taft-Van Doren residence halls will be demolished to make room for another hall in the later stages of this massive project. Construction is expected to begin next year.

Also Monday, the committee agreed to forward to the board a proposal regarding the construction project of the formerly named Assembly Hall. The trustees will vote on the design plans, as well as the naming rights agreement with State Farm.

Mike Bass, deputy comptroller for the University, told committee members that nearly $10 million annually will go toward funding the tentatively three-year, $165 million State Farm Center renovation project. The annual amount comprises $4.4 million in personal seat licenses, $2.1 million in student fees, $2 million in naming rights, $700,000 in a ticket surcharge on both athletic and non-athletic events and $500,000 in revenue from the Big Ten Network. The project was supposed to originally cost $157 million.

For the seat licenses, over 800 people have committed to the 851 club seats available; five have signed on for the 11 suites; and loges, or mini-suites, have been selling but not as quickly because of its new concept, Bass said.

The proposal calls for the project to be done in three stages, presumably starting in 2014, although no specific timetable has been finalized yet. Kent Brown, associate athletic director for media relations, said in an interview that even though basketball season will not be affected during the three-year stretch – the plan is to have renovations to the State Farm Center completed by 2016-17 – work could possibly be ongoing on the outside in the winter months.

Also, Brown said there’s a “strong likelihood” that Commencement will be held at the State Farm Center next year, although nothing has been finalized yet.

Committee member Pam Strobel recused herself from discussion of the renovation project because of possible conflict-of-interest concerns as she is a director for State Farm.

Darshan can be reached at [email protected] and @drshnpatel.