State Farm Center Renovation

Dan · Jan 28, 2016

More #Illini and @Illini_OKrush graphics were installed at @StateFarmCenter ahead of tonight's @IlliniMBB game
https://twitter.com/StateFarmCenter/status/692821790159147009

Illinithad · Jan 28, 2016

Dan said:
More #Illini and @Illini_OKrush graphics were installed at @StateFarmCenter ahead of tonight's @IlliniMBB game
https://twitter.com/StateFarmCenter/status/692821790159147009

The graphics look great!!! Hope they show up well on television. I just love the look of the State Farm Center now.

westvilleillini · Jan 28, 2016

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I feel like the new design looks cheap and mass-produced. It doesn't feel like the home of one of the B10's most storied programs.

Also, IF and when the program ever gets back on its feet, you'll never again before a B10 showdown see a sweeping sea of orange as in years past. The boxes break the crowd up too much for that effect.

I do concede however that these type of renovations are needed to compete in the new era of college hoop$. Hopefully the product on the floor improves so we can see what kind of atmosphere the new Hall can give us.

OrangeDeeLight · Jan 28, 2016

SaveChief said:
I went to the Michigan Illinois game and I have to ask at this point...where did the $ go? Nothing was a wow factor of any sort. Is there more coming that is actually going to create a wow or did we just get bamboozled by another state run organization...really unimpressive for the price tag unless the impressive part is yet to come. The new bathrooms on the C level are tiny, the lines snake forever..

westvilleillini said:
This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I feel like the new design looks cheap and mass-produced. It doesn't feel like the home of one of the B10's most storied programs.

Also, IF and when the program ever gets back on its feet, you'll never again before a B10 showdown see a sweeping sea of orange as in years past. The boxes break the crowd up too much for that effect.

I do concede however that these type of renovations are needed to compete in the new era of college hoop$. Hopefully the product on the floor improves so we can see what kind of atmosphere the new Hall can give us.

Totally agree. We wasted our money. It looks nicer than we had before. But not nice enough for nearly $180M.

And their are a lot of negatives regarding the Krush. Sure, there are more Krush around the court. That is nice. However, Krush are physically so far away from the court now (25 feet???) it is not as nice as we had before with the Krush standing on the sideline and just a few feet away from the court. It would not be so bad if the seats came up to the edge of the court like Oak St. and many other arenas. We could then live with Krush not standing on the sidelines. But that was impossible becasue they refused to lower the court and therefore the proper angle could no be obtained to bring the seats right to the edge of the court. All reasons we should have built new. :tsk:

bleedsorangenblue · Jan 28, 2016

Just back from my first visit to the new SFC and think the place looks great. It still needs some tweaking but I knew that going in. It is a bit mind-boggling to think where all the money went and I don't know if it was the greatest bang for the buck. That said, it is still a great arena and I couldn't be happier than to see it get new improved life for the foreseeable future.

Ransom Stoddard · Jan 29, 2016

The place looked awesome on TV last night. Having Krush filled makes a huge difference in just the visual aspect, but they brought the noise too!

britt31 · Jan 29, 2016

will they be putting more bathrooms up on the C level before the renovation is complete?

danielb927 · Jan 29, 2016

OrangeDeeLight said:
Totally agree. We wasted our money. It looks nicer than we had before. But not nice enough for nearly $180M.

And their are a lot of negatives regarding the Krush. Sure, there are more Krush around the court. That is nice. However, Krush are physically so far away from the court now (25 feet???) it is not as nice as we had before with the Krush standing on the sideline and just a few feet away from the court. It would not be so bad if the seats came up to the edge of the court like Oak St. and many other arenas. We could then live with Krush not standing on the sidelines. But that was impossible becasue they refused to lower the court and therefore the proper angle could no be obtained to bring the seats right to the edge of the court. All reasons we should have built new. :tsk:

Not as nice for the 30 kids who got there early enough for front row seats (I know, I was one of them), but much, much nicer for 800 kids who couldn't see or weren't even in floor seats before the reno.

IlliniOllie · Jan 29, 2016

westvilleillini said:
This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I feel like the new design looks cheap and mass-produced. It doesn't feel like the home of one of the B10's most storied programs.

Also, IF and when the program ever gets back on its feet, you'll never again before a B10 showdown see a sweeping sea of orange as in years past. The boxes break the crowd up too much for that effect.

I do concede however that these type of renovations are needed to compete in the new era of college hoop$. Hopefully the product on the floor improves so we can see what kind of atmosphere the new Hall can give us.

IMO, if we took the teams, crowds, and Krush from 1999-2006 and put them in the new SFC, it would be unbelievable. I hope we get back there someday.

Also, filed under "things that I never expected to complain about" department, what kind of idiot puts a diaper changing station right in front of the entry door to the bathroom? JFC, how is that supposed to work when someone completely blocks the whole entrance whenever that's used?

ilphotog · Jan 29, 2016

britt31 said:
will they be putting more bathrooms up on the C level before the renovation is complete?

Yes, right now they only have 50% of the restrooms done on the upper/outer concourse.

OrangeDeeLight · Jan 29, 2016

danielb927 said:
Not as nice for the 30 kids who got there early enough for front row seats (I know, I was one of them), but much, much nicer for 800 kids who couldn't see or weren't even in floor seats before the reno.

We could have what we have right now AND have kids standing around the edge. Plus there were more than 30 kids behind the basket. It is the closeness to the floor that matters imo. The Krush now are 25 ft + away from the edge of the floor on the ends.

The obvious answer was to bring the seats right to the edge of the floor like OK ST. But like I said, without lowering the floor, getting the proper angle for this was likely impossible.

danielb927 · Jan 30, 2016

OrangeDeeLight said:
We could have what we have right now AND have kids standing around the edge. Plus there were more than 30 kids behind the basket. It is the closeness to the floor that matters imo. The Krush now are 25 ft + away from the edge of the floor on the ends.

The obvious answer was to bring the seats right to the edge of the floor like OK ST. But like I said, without lowering the floor, getting the proper angle for this was likely impossible.

Could we? The sideline seats that used to go to Krush kids are now going for 6 digits a year. That's a big slice of the renovation budget pie.

I'm not arguing it wouldn't be cool to have both, I'm just saying the trade-off is worth it, and you can't always get everything perfect in a financially feasible project.

Deleted member 3875 · Jan 30, 2016

IlliniOllie said:
IMO, if we took the teams, crowds, and Krush from 1999-2006 and put them in the new SFC, it would be unbelievable. I hope we get back there someday.

Also, filed under "things that I never expected to complain about" department, what kind of idiot puts a diaper changing station right in front of the entry door to the bathroom? JFC, how is that supposed to work when someone completely blocks the whole entrance whenever that's used?

Must have hired a Purdue engineer for that task.

OrangeDeeLight · Jan 30, 2016

danielb927 said:
Could we? The sideline seats that used to go to Krush kids are now going for 6 digits a year. That's a big slice of the renovation budget pie.

I'm not arguing it wouldn't be cool to have both, I'm just saying the trade-off is worth it, and you can't always get everything perfect in a financially feasible project.

Valid point. But most of "those" premium courtside sideline seats appear to go unused at the moment. Krush could "fill in" until they are sold?

But even giving up on those sideline seats...we still could put Krush up next to the cheerleaders on the ends like before...instead of 25 ft of empty (ugly) grey space between the edge of the court and the first row of seats.

ilphotog · Jan 30, 2016

OrangeDeeLight said:
Valid point. But most of "those" premium courtside sideline seats appear to go unused at the moment. Krush could "fill in" until they are sold?

But even giving up on those sideline seats...we still could put Krush up next to the cheerleaders on the ends like before...instead of 25 ft of empty (ugly) grey space between the edge of the court and the first row of seats.

Where are you getting 25' from ? The Krush on the ends are about 4'-7' back from the edge of the court from where they used to be. Closer in the corners as it arcs back a little in the middle. I'll bring a tape measure on Sunday. If you fill Krush in along the side in any empty premium seat, they wouldn't be able to stand etc except for spontaneous reactions. They would block the view of the people sitting behind them. Its not perfect but IMO its better than it was.

OrangeDeeLight · Jan 31, 2016

ilphotog said:
Where are you getting 25' from ? The Krush on the ends are about 4'-7' back from the edge of the court from where they used to be. Closer in the corners as it arcs back a little in the middle. I'll bring a tape measure on Sunday. If you fill Krush in along the side in any empty premium seat, they wouldn't be able to stand etc except for spontaneous reactions. They would block the view of the people sitting behind them. Its not perfect but IMO its better than it was.

25 ft...may be a bit of an exaggeration? But I do know the gap is WAY more than last year because there was no gap last year.

There is a huge gap (you can see it on TV too) between the edge of the floor behind the cheerleaders on the one end all the way back to the first Krush seat. It stands out like a sore thumb becasue it is basically wasted space of grey, ugly concrete. Something should be in there. If not students, at least paint the concrete orange. However, I doubt any students could be placed in there as they would not be bale to see...no benefit of a riser like last year. So there may not be anything we can do now due to the angles?

frankfortillini · Jan 31, 2016

The place looks great on tv - with a crazy crowd and top 10 team it will look amazing.

I'll withhold judgement until I walk through once the project is complete, but as much as I think this statement is ridiculous, $190mm doesn't get you what it used to.

Fillory · Feb 3, 2016

frankfortillini said:
The place looks great on tv - with a crazy crowd and top 10 team it will look amazing.

I'll withhold judgement until I walk through once the project is complete, but as much as I think this statement is ridiculous, $190mm doesn't get you what it used to.

Seconded. The Krush looks so much more imposing on television. Definitely to the point where you know potential recruits see it on television.

illlllinois · Feb 3, 2016

Fillory said:
Seconded. The Krush looks so much more imposing on television. Definitely to the point where you know potential recruits see it on television.

Yeah and no one complains about empty seats on tv now. Great fix

HoopCity · Feb 4, 2016

We have went to multiple games including the most recent Wisconsin game and have sat in the same seats, 6 rows from the top dead center on the west side. These seats are right below the electronic control booth which has multiple air vents (maybe 20 or so) that are directed downward right towards the fans sitting below. I have complained multiple times about the COLD air blowing on us the whole game and was told they would take care of this. I recently called again and now I am told this will not be fixed until the next phase !! Really, I could have taken care of this on the first call by different means of fixing or diverting this cold air for the time being. New vents that would have louvers pointing upward rather than straight down would work or just putting cardboard on the inside of these vents would also work. Please make an effort to stop this for the loyal fans that are sitting at the top.

We have to wear turtlenecks, scarfs and jackets the whole game, this is not acceptable!!

Bomb Squad 217 · Feb 4, 2016

Now that's a legitimate complaint.

HoopCity · Feb 8, 2016

Bomb Squad 217 said:
Now that's a legitimate complaint.

Bomb Squad, did you take care of that for us? If so, Thanks..

We had "NO" cold air blowing out of vents for the game Sunday.

Maybe because the circulation system was off due to no Pyrotechnics at the start of the game?

IlliniWood · Feb 8, 2016

As I've said previously, I'll reserve major judgement until everything is finished, but the restroom design and layout in the upper concourse needs a serious overhaul. Why did they split the two structures into male and female restrooms? You now have 4 small restrooms vs. two very large ones. They could have put a separate entrance/exit path to promote flow and keep the lines from staggering. In addition to the location of the changing stations, the paper towel dispenser locations make absolutely no sense for helping to move people through. I also love the random urinal that has the shelf on the side divider instead of the wall like all of the others. I guess that's for anyone who wants to set his drink or personal belongings even closer to the line of fire.

Giovanni · Feb 12, 2016

In just under 25 posts and the cost has gone from $160M to $180M to $190M!?!
Do y'all think if you exaggerate the cost that makes your whin...err..complaints more profound? Right up there with "25 ft...may be a bit of an exaggeration?" :lie:

ilphotog · Feb 13, 2016

OrangeDeeLight said:
Except for the 25 ft is not a bit of exaggeration. I looked last game. :hand:

From the end of the court to the seats is 7.6' in the middle(near the basket) and arc's down to 3.5 feet near the corners.

State Farm Center Renovation

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