Most days, Eisenhower Chapel bustles with activity as campus faith groups meet to worship, pray, eat and socialize.

So many students are involved in spiritual groups that the building is often booked solid with back-to-back programs.

Within two years, their prayers for more space may be answered.

Penn State is finalizing plans to construct a $9 million addition to the all-faith chapel, including a worship space that can fit groups of up to 800 people.

Eisenhower Chapel's sanctuary, built in 1956, seats about 125.

The new building will try to welcome everyone with a neutral design, an alternative to the Protestant-style architecture of the existing chapel.

"The underlying belief for this building was that it was a university building," said project manager Rick Riccardo, who met with representatives of different faith groups while planning the building. "It has to be a place of worship, but not identifiable with any particular faith."

The new wing of the Eisenhower Chapel will be called the Frank and Sylvia Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, named after late supporters of the university who donated $5 million for the project.

The entire project will be paid for by donations, including $1 million from Joe and Sue Paterno.

Construction will begin in May or June, after final approval from the Penn State Board of Trustees in March. The building will probably take between 18 and 24 months to finish, Riccardo said.

The bulk of the new building will cover what is now a parking lot along Allen Road. Most of the trees around the chapel will remain.

Blueprints show a new four-room worship space, divided by folding walls that can be configured to hold various size groups. Bleacher-style seats will fold up into walls when not in use.

To accommodate Muslim prayer requirements, one room in the new building will be offset slightly to face due east.

The addition will also add an elevator, giving easier access to the subterranean Frizzell Room and the second-floor offices in the Eisenhower Chapel building.

Ken Clarke, director of the center for ethics and religious affairs, said one of the factors that created a need for a new building was the growth of interest in campus religion.

"That has pushed us beyond what the building can provide in that state," Clarke said in a December interview.

Members of the design committee are optimistic about the addition.

"I think the project turned out very good, considering we have so many faith groups under one wing," said Tuvia Abramson, director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. Abramson was part of the committee that worked on the design of the new building.

"I feel that it's a great achievement for the university community. On the outside world, you don't see many interfaith buildings," he said.