Gies Memorial Stadium

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#101      
kmunt09
Iamgroot said:
www-wcia-com.cdn.ampproject.org

Illini fan group petitions for return of former football stadium name

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A group of Illinois football fans is petitioning the university to restore the former name of its football stadium a month after it was renamed. The home of Fighting …
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I just don’t see this being effective. They have a right to voice their opinion, but I think that’s all this will amount to.

Whitman stated in the press release how a decision so big should not be made unilaterally, and he spoke with the dean/president about it throughout the entire process.
 
#102      
TX Illiniwek
#105      
Mr. Tibbs
I tend to agree, but just sayin, no one ever thought Trump was either.

stranger things have happened than the Chief dancing again at midfield
 
#107      
JKR
Marshall_Lucky said:
A bit off topic, wasn't the new improved in stadium wifi supposed to be fully operational in time for the USC game? I was still not able to connect to anything from the West balcony aeats
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It is done outside the stadium and (I think) and in the concession areas. The seating areas were delayed due to technical issues. That's the excuse any way. Should bedone before the season end.
 
#108      
jamarvelous31
JKR said:
I'm sure that you've considered this, but any modification to the SEZ must account for Kirby Avenue. There is very little room between the current structure and the sidewalk along that Avenue. You might extend vertically or to the north, but you can't move to the south without closing the Avenue.

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Dumb question. It's a multimillion $ project and it's not lake shore drive, would it really be THAT hard to curve the road?
 
#111      
STLini25
I think there is plenty of room for 10k to 15k seats especially given the space to move closer to the end zone
 
#112      
Mr. Tibbs
jamarvelous31 said:
Dumb question. It's a multimillion $ project and it's not lake shore drive, would it really be THAT hard to curve the road?
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no

and to really make it special they could lower Kirby and make a tunnel and connect the AH & MS into one and make park like environment at grade level

make no small plans - think outside the box - do the unexpected - be the envy of your world

just some thoughts
 
#113      
Battle89
Mr. Tibbs said:
no

and to really make it special they could lower Kirby and make a tunnel and connect the AH & MS into one and make park like environment at grade level

make no small plans - think outside the box - do the unexpected - be the envy of your world

just some thoughts
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My initial answer would have been that they don’t want to lose any more close in parking by curving the road into the SFC lot.

But I love the Tibbs plan!

Awaiting the follow up posts about Champaign water tables and the difficulty of lowering fields and or creating tunnels.
 
#114      
21ChampaignSt
jamarvelous31 said:
Did you know the average UIUC freshman was 1 years old the last time the Chief danced?

It will be 19 years in Feb. Maybe time to let it go...
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Yet they still wear Chief merch and yell his name at halftime. This gives me hope. Not that he'll come back. But that he'll persist in some way long after those who tried to cancel him have left the chat.
 
#115      
jamarvelous31
21ChampaignSt said:
Yet they still wear Chief merch and yell his name at halftime. This gives me hope. Not that he'll come back. But that he'll persist in some way long after those who tried to cancel him have left the chat.
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That sure sounds like 19 years of successful cancellation to me.

That's also about 1/4 of living alumni who never had the mascot. Persistence seems... unlikely.
 
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#116      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
It was not about the Chief being cancelled. It was a long time coming. And in case you haven't noticed, there's a lot of sports teams getting out of the use of Native American imagery.
 
#117      
Mr. Tibbs
yea , ignoring the fact that we have one of the worlds BEST civil engineering depts , and that no one has bothered to yet invent large sump pumps
 
#118      
Shief
Battle89 said:
My initial answer would have been that they don’t want to lose any more close in parking by curving the road into the SFC lot.

But I love the Tibbs plan!

Awaiting the follow up posts about Champaign water tables and the difficulty of lowering fields and or creating tunnels.
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You rang (engineer, water tables)?

I would be open to the idea of Kirby being lowered slightly between 1st and 4th to allow a tunnel/overpass connecting SFC and GMS.

Another idea, due to the high water table, we might take a page from Iowa State's book and build a bridge connecting the back of GMS and it's sidewalk to SFC's lot and sidewalk. However, this might be impractical due to Kirby normally be blocked off on gamedays and the road not been too busy during weekdays for pedestrians.
 

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#122      
jamarvelous31
LocalChief505 said:
Just because the chief “isn’t ever coming back” doesn’t mean he will ever leave. You will NEVER undo this university’s history.
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Nope, I'm sorry I just cancelled William M. Porter, he's no longer the University's 2nd president.

Because this is all a real and legitimate argument.
 
#125      
Bucktown
Mr. Tibbs said:
I mean seriously, the high water table didnt prevent planning & building the 30ft deep underground UnderGrad Library in the late 60’s
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Lowering the road would likely be much, much more expensive than offsetting it. There are likely utilities under the road that would need relocating as well, and it would impact the entrances to the State Farm Center lots. I don't particularly like the pedestrian experience walking adjacent to lowered roads especially in a non-urban location like this.

You might just leave the road where it is cantilever the stadium over the road or similar the raised walkway mentioned by Sheif have the stadium partially bridge over the road. The need for space is not at grade it is above for more seating.
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If bridged, perhaps the entrance and ticket collection for the horseshoe/SEZ seats could be from the south side of Kirby which would really help with crowd the bottlenecks getting in and out of the stadium. Although it is too tall by comparison, the White Sox do this with Rate Field over 35th. I am sure they could sell naming rights for that new entry gate to help with the cost.

How about the South Endzone Flex-N-Gate?
 
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