The second phase of renovation work at Niles New Tech Entrepreneurial Academy is nearing completion and should be ready by the first day of school Tuesday.

New Tech space has essentially doubled since construction began in the spring, making room for the expansion of the program from around 125 students to approximately 240.

The new space is a near mirror image of the original space, except for the addition of a “black box” room New Tech director Jerry Holtgren described as a multipurpose audio-visual room.

When finished, Holtgren said the room would include a green screen and a small theater.

“It’s like a production studio,” Holtgren said. “We can use it to create professional sounding and looking projects.”

The black box room won’t be ready to go at the start of the school year as Holtgren is still looking for someone to partner with New Tech in outfitting the room.

The new physics room has a slightly different appearance than the other New Tech rooms. It is outfitted with blackout blinds and an open ceiling to be utilized in completing projects.

The project cost $485,000 and is being paid for by an interest-free government bond QZAB. The district will pay back the bond with money from its sinking fund, which business manager Tom Skarbek said can only be used for capital projects and not items such as operating expenditures, purchase services or employee salaries.

It is the second phase of a three-phase project. The final phase is scheduled to begin at the end of the 2012-13 school year.