The hotel’s conference rooms will be the prime focus of several of the renovations, university engineer Bob Nestle said.

The building’s corridor spaces, ceiling, lighting and wall finishes also will be redone, Nestle said.

“It’s mostly aesthetic-type work,” he said.

Nestle said much of the work will be completed in phases to coordinate with the center’s busy conference and meeting schedule.

Construction on the facility’s meeting rooms — the majority of which is expected to be completed by August 2012 — will be handled by the Physical Plant, Nestle said.

As the center is prepared for that work, some of Kellogg’s dining areas already are undergoing renovations.

The State Room Restaurant, a popular eatery among hotel guests, currently is being redesigned to accommodate an additional dining room.

Those renovations will place another lounge inside the restaurant itself, said Joel Heberlein, the center’s general manager.

“There will be more of a sense of privacy, (which) I think (customers will) enjoy,” he said.

The restaurant operations already have been moved to a separate part of the hotel, which overlooks campus, to accommodate construction crews, but Heberlein said that hasn’t disrupted dining operations.

“We have some people who love the view looking out over the Red Cedar River,” Heberlein said.

The flurry of additions to Kellogg comes about five months after the MSU School of Hospitality Business announced its plans to renovate and upgrade their Culinary Business Learning Lab at the center.

Those plans were approved by the Board of Trustees at its December meeting , and work started on the upgrades this past winter.

The new facility — which will incorporate a teaching demonstration theater and upgraded kitchens — is expected to be finished before the start of fall semester, said Ronald Cichy, the school’s director.

“In order to compete with the competition … we have to have facilities that attract prospective students,” he said. “They have to have a space that gives them the latest and most innovative culinary business experience.”

Cichy said the facility was funded in part by a $2 million grant from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.

Cichy said officials at the school are planning formal opening ceremonies for this October. Upgrades to the learning lab remain a vital piece of the educational experience, he said.

“In our school, it’s not just what you learn in your classes and curriculum, it’s also what you learn in your hands-on experiences,” Cichy said.