NORMAL - Downtown Normal looks a little different than it did when Illinois State University students left for summer break. When most of them return Thursday, along with hundreds of new and transfer students and their families, they'll find three new restaurants, a nightclub and another coffee shop, and a lot of construction going on.

The work is all part of the huge downtown renovation project that includes a new hotel and the already-open Children's Discovery Museum.

Construction of the 230-room, $38 million Marriott Hotel and accompanying $12 million conference center across from Watterson Towers is expected to begin by mid-September. The project will take 18 months to complete.

This week, work started on a 250-seat Medici's restaurant and bakery at 120 and 122 W. North St. The restaurant, which will bring fare similar to the Medici's of 57th in Chicago, is expected to open in the spring.

Construction also is expected to begin soon on Main Street Bank and Trust at 103 Broadway. The bank, which was displaced by the hotel project, has a temporary facility at 101 E. Mulberry St.

A four-story, $9.5 million Bank of Illinois building will open by mid-December, just west of the current facility at 102 W. College Ave. The bank will occupy the first two floors with the remaining space leased to other businesses, including Farnsworth Group.

Over the summer, Twin City developer Harry Fuller finished construction on a building at 107 E. Beaufort St. that houses a restaurant called The Groove Café on the west side of the first floor and a two-story nightclub, NV Ultralounge, on the east side.

The restaurant, at the former Gallery nightclub site, opened in July. It has 17 flavors of wings, burgers, wraps, sandwiches, quesadillas, fajitas, shrimp and salads - a menu that also will serve NV Ultralounge that will host a retro, welcome-back concert Aug. 25. An outside concert starts at 6 p.m. with Bygones and the Mighty Groove Trio. The lounge won't only cater to college students.

"I want it to be a functional entertainment option for adults," said Fuller, who plans a variety of entertainment options.

Across the street at 106 E. Beaufort St., two Illinois State University graduates plan to open a Chicago-style hot dog restaurant called Big Mouths. The restaurant also will have hamburgers, veggie burgers, polish sausage and chicken.

Another restaurant will occupy much of the first floor of a $2.1 million, three-story building at Linden and Beaufort streets. Cosi, a chain founded on the East Coast, is expected to open by mid-October, said co-owner and manager Francisco Petinga.

In addition, Coffee Hound, a favorite in downtown Bloomington, is opening a store at 205 W. North St. The Normal shop will have soups and salads in addition to a variety of coffee selections. It will be open seven days a week.