Pictures from the EIU @ Illinois game on September 6, 2008:
tailgating in the Research Park
Marching Illini visiting various tailgate groups in the Research Park
New I-Hotel and Conference Center, which opened last month.
I-Hotel... Houlihan's Restaurant is also located in the complex.
The new look of Memorial Stadium from First and St. Mary's Road
People hawking goods in front of the new Hotel
There must have been a sale on these things at Wal-Mart... they are everywhere this year.
The Assembly Hall
Memorial Stadium ready for the game
View of the new west pavilion.
Loyalty Circle parking has been moved to the NW lot of Assembly Hall (where it belongs)
west side of Memorial Stadium, some of the construction equipment remains...
One of the 5 new "portal" entrances to Memorial Stadium. there is one at each corner of the stadium and 1 at midfield on the west side.
again with the west side.
Looking back at the ticket takers.
once you get through the portals you are "in" the stadium, and can rattle about freely. Note to those who haven't gone to a game yet this year... once kickoff approaches the portals get REALLY backed up... if you want to see the pregame head for the doors about 45 minutes before kickoff.
Irwin Drive is now within the stadium. You still need a ticket to get into the north endzone though.
west steps to Memorial Stadium
Looking up at the colonnade and detailing of the west facade.
Center Section of the west side
The two middle doors are now the Luxury Seating entrance... through these doors there is a small lobby with elevator banks that will take you up to the Colonnades Club and the new press box/suites/77 club area.
Inside the west Great Hall. Banners of All-Americans adorn the columns. Giant posters front the wall on the right with the concession stands, murals have been painted on the outside walls.
lighting was a pain, but I tried to get a few pics of the murals. For better pics I'd suggest looking at the photos on FightingIllini.com
Butkus Mural. Grange and Butkus are all over the stadium
1983 Rose Bowl mural on the left.
Selected Illini head coaches, including White, Tepper, Turner, Zook, Mackovic, Elliot, Zuppke, and others.
again, the banners are all for Illinois All-Americans.
From the north end of the Great Hall looking South. The brick wall directly in front of you is for the elevator lobby.
The North Ramp Tower in the West Great Hall. Notice the ramp on the left leads to the Colonnades (and ONLY the
skylight at the top of the NW Ramp Tower.
at the top of the ramp leading to the west colonnades. Notice how there are parts of the stadium that are "ready" but not finished. Also, this ramp used to lead to the center of the west balcony, but is cut off because of the new press box tower. This means that there is no longer a direct route from the Colonnades to the Balcony.
unpainted drywall.
West Colonnades from North Looking south.
Looking over the west stadium terrace from the west colonnade. Notice the construction staging area is being cleaned up. Abbot Power Plant is in the background.
Looking Southwest. Next season a wall and grand entrance will be constructed, with a grange statue approximately where the tent and gravel walkway are located now.
Again with the colonnade.
The name of one of the students, alumni, or faculty who died in the First World War. The 200 columns bear the names of 182 Illini that died in World War I (the team was renamed from "Illini" to "Fighting Illini" after the war). Memorials to those who died in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and other conflicts can be found in the rooms at the end of each colonnade.
Even though the colannade is a bit of a pain to get to now, one benefit of the renovation is that the elevator stack that used to run right through the middle of it has now been removed.
again, more columns.
Leaving the colonnade on the south side.
ramp down to the lower concourse level.
SW Ramp Tower.
is this door supposed to be open? this is part of the new Mechanical Mezannine level that was built below the Colonnade to provide support for the new structure.
Back in the West Great Hall.
Mural to the 2008 Rose Bowl Team.
Like I said, Grange and Butkus are everywhere.
close up.
Robert Zuppke tribute.
not sure what the point of this is... but go America!
ok, here is the story on this one:
This paintin is of an early Illinois football game (I want to say Illinois vs. Chicago, but I forget who the opponent is supposed to be). It was commissioned in the 1920's painted by a UI professor, and installed in a bank in downtown Champaign in the entrance lobby.
the bank, like many, failed in the late 20's and the Athletic Association bought it from the bank (there was a compaining painting, that appears to be lost, that was placed opposite it in the lobby, but that's another story). The painting was installed in Huff Hall (then known as the Men's Gymnasium) and overlooked Illinois basketball, wrestling, volleyball games for several decades (if you've been to volleyball game in the last several years you'd know it was hanging on the south side of the arena above the balcony).
This year it was taken down, restored, and moved the elevator lobby for the luxury seating at Memorial Stadium, where overzealous dicks in sweatervests prevent you from getting a clear shot of it unless you have paid several hundred dollars for your ticket.
at the top of the ramp leading up to the West Balcony.
Looking back at folks making their way up to the West Balcony.
the new West Balcony Concourse.
and finally, a view of the new playing field, taken from the West Balcony Concourse.
looking back at the student section (its at least an hour before kickoff at this point)
players, wearing the throwback uniforms, warming up.
more players standing around warming up.
the score board. I assume tickets are still available for Carrie Underwood.
notice the curve of the new press box.
people with disabilities no longer have to be stuck in the endzone, which is a big improvement. The TV cameras have been moved from baskets hanging in front of the endzone to the upper concourse level as well.
this large mural is located at the center of the west balcony concourse. (the elevator shafts are located directly behind it)
J Leman, immortalized (or at least remembered for a few years until the paint starts to fade)
Dick Butkus, again.
a little help here?
Dike Eddleman.
plenty of room in the new WB concourse.
TV monitors next to the concession stands, to the best of my knowledge these things aren't working yet, at least they weren't turned on when I walked through, and the ones in the east hall still had plastic over them.
looking back over the playing field.
view of the horseshoe.
players waiting for the game.
looking back to the north over the new North Endzone with Campustown in the background.
again, if you look closely you can see there is still some work to do, even though the stadium is certainly ready for games.
East Stands
looking up at the press box from the south side of the upper concourse.
The SW ramp tower to the right, over looking the east side and the field of play.
one final picture of the upper concourse.
from the ramps looking down at the colonnades and the west terrace.
folks treking up to their seats.
some great views of the surrounding fields are available throughout the stadium.
walking down the ramps.
these windows used to look over the west stands, and are now filled in because of the new tower.
view of the field and stands can be had as you walk down the ramps
Eastern Illinois Panthers warm up before the game.
looking up at the Colonnades Club (below the balcony) the West Balcony, and press box from the lower bowl.
Illinois stretching before the game.
nothing new for fans in the horseshoe... (for the record, the restrooms in the west stands are fantastic).
on the concourse level in the horseshoe looking over the east stands.
again, looking at the new west structure.... which 2 years ago was identicle to the east side, except for the tiny press box at midfield.
people start to file into the rich seats in the colonnades club.
another close up of the west pavilion.
the scoreboard.
the stadium could really use a new videoboard over the north stands.
notice the "Zuppke Field" plaque at the middle of the north endzone. The Zuppke Wall was installed before IMPE was built, and was actually located about where IMPE stands now. It was moved to its old location (about the back of the north endzone structure) in the 1960's to make room for IMPE... and was moved a second time last year to be next to the field and allow for the construction of the North Endzone structure.
West Side
East Side
new section numbers throughout the stadium, here in the
a very blurry, for some reason, picture of the east great hall. If you are straining to see what is new, don't bother... not much is.
the concession stands have been rebuilt, and are larger, which is cool, but the East Great Hall has NONE of the decoration that the West Side has... presumably most of the East side renovations where struck from the project when it got too pricey. Since luxury seating, not us plebes in the regular stands, pay for renovations, I wouldn't hold my breath on seeing it done any time soon.
as mentioned earlier, as of the EIU game the TV's weren't hooked up.
back cover of the game program, with Red Grange.
trumpets lining the ramps in the North East Tower as fans head to their seats.
waiting to play.
this picture is looking from the ramps heading up to the balcony (remember the openings that were blocked in on the west side?)
not much new on this side... still have the old scoreboards up in the rafters because the video board is out of view.
looking over IMPE (I'm not calling it the "Arc", i don't care if its big enough that there is two of every type of weight machine in there)
the changing skyline of Champaign. The 24 Story 309 E. Green Building rises up behind whatever-the-hell Century21/University Inn/Presidential Towers is called these days. To the left of the building formerly known as Presidential Towers (the black octagon) you can see the 14 story Burnham Tower building.
looking down at the east main stands as I walk up to my seat.
students are slowely starting to show up, its about 35-40 minutes before kickoff now.
Illini going through pregame drills.
stadium is starting to fill up.
lookin back at the horsehoe, with Assembly Hall in the background.
The East Balcony Concourse (this is what the west concourse used to look like too... scroll up and notice the difference)
and for the record, absolutely NOTHING has changed about the west concourse. Nada, Zip, Zilch, Squat.
The West Side. In the press box (we need to find a new word for it, because the "press" occupies like 1/9th of that behemouth, but I digress...):
First Level: South and North Sections - Suites, Middle Section - 77 Club (indoor club seating)
Second Level: Suites
Third Level: South Section - Suites, Middle Section - Public Address, broadcasting, coaching boxes, replay official. North Section - Written Press.
Upper Level - Security.
Looking at North stands... notice the arched entrance to the "Activities and Recreation Center" (it's still IMPE to me damnit!)
closeup on the press box. A couple people sit in their plush seats. Notice the broadcast booth at the top middle. The broadcast booth includes a place for the commentators and spotters to work, along with a room to place a backdrop or green screen.
north section.
middle section.
South Section.
17 minutes before kickoff, which means the band is on the field (horray!)
the band. the best thing about Illinois Football from 2003-2007.
American Flags on the posts above the stadium. There used to be 12 flags between the east and west side (enough for 11 Big Ten school flags and a general conference flag).
Form Of: United States of America!
Star and banners.
ILLINI
William Tell before the start of the game:
band waiting for the team to enter.
stadium is getting full, but it will take a while to fill up because of the traffic jam at the entrances.
Intro Video and Team Entrance:
Team huddles up at midfield before the game.
Marching Band plays the national Anthem before the game (they did the anthem after the teams came out today, instead of before)
National Anthem Video:
Kickoff.
the top 10 players at 8 positions (Specialists, Defensive Backs, Linbackers, Defensive Linemen, Receivers, Running Backs, Offensive Linmen, and Quarterbacks) were honored throughout the game.
legendary UI players stand in the endzone during a media timeout.
UI on offense.
More players heading on to the field.
The only person to wear #50 in Memorial Stadium now or ever again, Dick Butkus.
#47, J Leman, also appeared.
5 of the 10 linebackers were able to appear.
Kickoff after Illinois Touchdown.
EIU backed up in their own territory.
Touchdown Illinois!
id
Illinois preparing to kick the extra point after a touchdown, the large Block I flags run across the field.
I think its supposed to say "Zook"... they need more practice.
halftime.
more halftime.
Block I doublefisting some odd-looking beer mugs.
CHUG!! CHUG!! CHUG!!
almost done.
During the Three in One.
Three in One Clip:
Playing "Alma Mater"
student section.
the wave makes it through the stadium.
Video:
after the game, i thought these were cool, these are on one of the buildings in the research park...
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