NIU officials and Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked the state Legislature for the funding Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reported. If the money is approved, and Cole Hall is demolished and replaced, the new facility would be called Memorial Hall.

"Cole Hall will be torn down, but what happened there will never be forgotten," Blagojevich said during a news conference in front of the building where the five students were killed and another 16 people injured in a Valentine's Day rampage by a former NIU student who killed himself.

DeKalb-area lawmakers plan to sponsor legislation to issue bonds for the new facility, the newspaper said. Blagojevich said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the funding being approved.