Illinois Football Performance Center

#51      

IlliniSox

Minneapolis, MN
On the issue of obstructing MS, I can't help but think that is a bit silly to argue. Doesn't Irwin already block the iconic columns from the north and east (and won't Irwin surely be taller than this facility?)? When you drive down Fourth St, the columns are blocked by trees and the tarped fence around the practice fields. The view the new facilities will obstructing doesn't exist in the first place.

And I'm pretty sure that the only time those fences are not tarped is during the offseason, which is when you don't have masses of football fans that would theoretically need to be impressed by an unobstructed view.
 
#52      

james81

North Carolina
Interesting article comparing conference facilities.

In his opening statement at Big Ten media days, Illinois coach Lovie Smith made sure to mention the program’s facility upgrades — even though, according to plans unveiled in June, the new $79 million stand-alone football building won’t be ready until 2019.

That’s because Illinois, along with one other program — Rutgers — is perhaps furthest behind in the Big Ten facilities arms race. Even Illini Athletic Director Josh Whitman conceded that.

“My first car was a 1985 Nissan Stanza, and that’s kind of what we’re driving right now with facilities,” Whitman said.

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/football/in-big-ten-build-or-get-left-behind-conference-cash/article_71be02b9-ab36-5834-ac84-3ded14657307.html
 
#53      

blmillini

Bloomington, IL
#55      

riffraff

Peoria
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I was surprised to see the amount of debt the Illinois Athletic Department is carrying. Only 3 other public universities in the country are carrying more debt than Illinois...and that was before the Performance Center was announced.



www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-01-04/college-football-s-top-teams-are-built-on-crippling-debt



No surprise.
1. Investment in facilities hasn't paid off with revenue sport ticket sales.
2. Illinois is the flagship school for a deadbeat state that can't pay its bills because of committing to more spending than income can support.
 
#56      

ilphotog

The camera never lies
Champaign
Isn't most of that debt, loans on the SFC renovation?
 
#57      
I'm underwhelmed.

While it may be practical, for a university and state as architecturally as rich as ours, this is weak sauce. If the real estate is so scarce there with IMPE in the way, then go vertical or build a new IMPE across first and put the land IMPE uses to use.

Go big or go home

I agree. I mean in Texas there's a new HIGH SCHOOL stadium going in for $70 million and it's going to be nicer than what we're looking at. I like the history of memorial stadium, but if we're going to nuke the chief, nuke the chant, toss the 3-n-1, etc. why not REALLY start over? This just looks like enough window dressing to keep up for now. Smacks of good money after bad. Nothing we can do though. It appears we're just stuck with this crap. I mean, remember when Lovie was announced and the sports world went, "Whoa... that just happened." That was outside the box. I was hoping for something a little more... more.
 
#58      

EJ33

San Francisco
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I was surprised to see the amount of debt the Illinois Athletic Department is carrying. Only 3 other public universities in the country are carrying more debt than Illinois...and that was before the Performance Center was announced.

www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-01-04/college-football-s-top-teams-are-built-on-crippling-debt

Interesting - now we know the real reason we're only doing the performance center. We need to show some progress towards filling seats before we take on any more debt.
 
#59      

Dan

Admin
[YOUTUBE]0fMFbKn3oZw[/YOUTUBE]
 
#60      

Glory Days

Palmetto, FL
I love Illini football, but have NEVER been impressed by Memorial Stadium's aesthetics. The concourses look like an old warehouse, the new end zone seating is hideous and too far from the field (students despise sitting there), the Horseshoe is an abomination and is way too far from the field, and the press box is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in a college football stadium.

Even with all the old, nostalgic stuff that some people love, 16 and 17 year olds just see it as "old AF."
 
#61      

kcib8130

Parts Unknown
I love Illini football, but have NEVER been impressed by Memorial Stadium's aesthetics. The concourses look like an old warehouse, the new end zone seating is hideous and too far from the field (students despise sitting there), the Horseshoe is an abomination and is way too far from the field, and the press box is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in a college football stadium.

Even with all the old, nostalgic stuff that some people love, 16 and 17 year olds just see it as "old AF."

I would ask you if you have ever been inside of that press box? its about as nice as they come inside.
 
#62      
the new end zone seating is hideous and too far from the field (students despise sitting there)


While I dont necesarily disagree (I dont think it looks awful, but the could've done something better), I dont think student hate sitting there. Yeah its too far from the field, but going to almost every game for three straight years (I gave up on watching a Beckman product as a senior) I cant say I ever hated it. I liked how it was self enclosed. But hey thats just my opinion. I really hope when/if they get the money to redo the shoe, they also take a look at the other endzone too.

I would ask you if you have ever been inside of that press box? its about as nice as they come inside.

I assume he was talking about how it looks as an addition to the stadium. It looks out of place, to say the least.
 
#63      

icengineer

Southern Illinois
I would ask you if you have ever been inside of that press box? its about as nice as they come inside.

Now how many of us 'average' football fans do you think ever set foot inside there? ;) Or even care for that matter, lol.

I assume he was talking about how it looks as an addition to the stadium. It looks out of place, to say the least.

I agree.
 
#64      

Dan

Admin
New renderings of #Illini Football Performance Center

https://twitter.com/IlliniFootball/status/925029341750276097
https://twitter.com/IlliniFootball/status/925030003162669057
https://twitter.com/IlliniFootball/status/925030844879777792



Football Performance Center First Major Capital Project Within Campaign

Fighting Illini Athletics has the goal of raising $300 million to support the vision of becoming the nation's preeminent intercollegiate athletic program. Donated dollars will fund three pillars of excellence: student scholarships (through the I FUND); capital projects; and student-athlete enhancement.

http://www.fightingillini.com/news/...draising-goal-for-with-illinois-campaign.aspx



Hear from @IlliniAD about @IlliniFootball performance center, @IlliniIFUND goal for #withILLINOIS campaign & more

http://www.fightingillini.com/watch/?Live=1281&type=Live
 
Last edited:
#65      
looking good i guess. i dont know anything really about performance centers and what sets the best apart
 
#66      

Dan

Admin
[YOUTUBE]pGB9KePxShE[/YOUTUBE]

Whitman: Some plans backed up based on what happens with hockey. That facility would impact several programs.

Feasibility for hockey still ongoing. Anxious to see results of that.

Whitman: Hockey not part of calculus for this $300 million campaign. But we do see it as a tremendous opportunity.

Whitman: Looking forward to going back home (to West Lafayette) this weekend. Went to a lot of games, especially hoops as a kid

Whitman: Only got a chance to play at Purdue once as a player. It'll be pretty special for me to be back.

Whitman: I had the opportunity to go to Purdue. But like a lot of kids, I wanted to do something different.

Whitman: Not a lot of people would call Illinois exotic, but it was for me.

Whitman: Priorities for other sports would just be speculation right now. A lot has to do with finding necessary money.

Whitman: It's easy in summer to say it's going to be a growth season. It's another thing to live it.

I've never seen the number of youth we're playing right now. It's unprecedented.

Whitman: We're trying to look much more carefully on the field. Are we seeing progress, development? Absolutely yes.

https://twitter.com/JWernerScout
 
#67      
Certainly much better than the renderings a few months ago. Can clearly see they are trying to be consistent with the look of Memorial Stadium and keeping the overall hieght down as to not block the view of the MS columns from Pennsylvania ave.
 
#68      
I know I'm a broken record on this, but I'm more concerned with how we fix up the horseshoe. It's an eye sore on an otherwise really cool stadium. Why we don't at least put some temporary bleachers (that would be indistinguishable from permanent ones in this situation) to bring those horseshoe seats down to the field/make that area look more imposing is just beyond me, but whatever.

Practice facility looks pretty cool!
 
#69      
Facility certainly looks cool. Nothing mind blowing, but absolutely an improvement.

One question I've got would be why is that stadium style classroom seating staring at a whole bunch of windows looking onto the practice field? I would assume they would use that for team meetings with the coaches, but it seems odd to be staring at tons of windows with a silhouette talking in front of them. Also, don't they typically watch game film in those kinds of rooms? Maybe it is a place for media/parents to watch practices on cold days (kind of joking)?

Not trying to criticize here, I'm just curious.
 
#70      
Facility certainly looks cool. Nothing mind blowing, but absolutely an improvement.

One question I've got would be why is that stadium style classroom seating staring at a whole bunch of windows looking onto the practice field? I would assume they would use that for team meetings with the coaches, but it seems odd to be staring at tons of windows with a silhouette talking in front of them. Also, don't they typically watch game film in those kinds of rooms? Maybe it is a place for media/parents to watch practices on cold days (kind of joking)?

Not trying to criticize here, I'm just curious.

I was wondering the exact same thing. And were the two random dudes looking for their lost cell phones?
 
#71      

DrewD007

Woodridge, IL
I would hope that there are shades that come down and double as a screen for a projector.
 
#72      
Weightroom

Why is the old North Endzone weightroom so much larger and more impressive than the one in this rendering?

Are they going to keep the other one as the main one and this is just a supplementary room?
 
Last edited:
#74      
So with the locker rooms located in the new Performance Center, is it strange that the team will have to leave the stadium to get to their locker room before the game and at halftime? Or is this something that other schools do as well?

Obviously this is a much needed improvement for recruiting, but like others, I hope the South end zone isn't far behind. The inside of our stadium is about as vanilla as they come.