Just before Thanksgiving break, the Illinois Capital Development Board officials announced they will begin seeking bids for the $46 million Doudna Fine Arts Center expansion and renovation project this January.

January 4 has been scheduled as a “pre-bid day,” when interested contractors will have a walk-through of the building. On Jan. 11 the CDB will open all bids they have received for heating, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing, sewer system and asbestos work. On Jan. 13 the CDB will open all general contracting bids they have received, said Melaney Arnold, the spokeswoman for the CDB in Springfield.

“These dates were originally scheduled for December, but because it is normal for dates to get moved around and because of the holiday season, the process was interrupted,” Arnold said.

The faculty, staff and students of Eastern’s fine arts departments have been hit the hardest by the delay of the Doudna project, but they all seem to have adjusted well to the project’s delays.

“(The delay) really hasn’t affected us that much,” said Glenn Hild, Eastern’s art department chair. “Of course, pushing back the dates delays the process, but 30 days is not much in the whole process.”

Rachel Dorfman, an Eastern senior art major, said though she had hoped Doudna would be finished before she graduated, she expected the delays.

“I hope when it is finished it will bring a lot of new opportunities for students,” she said. “It would have been nice to have it done while I was here, but I think they’ve handled the whole process well.”

If the bidding process goes as planned, Arnold said three to six weeks after the January dates, work on putting contracts together and notice of awards will begin.

The Doudna project, which will include renovations to the existing fine arts center and the construction of a 168,800 square-foot addition, is expected to be completed in three years, said Steve Shrake, design and construction manager at Eastern.