Memorial Stadium renovation sure to impress Illini fans
CHAMPAIGN - When he's not perfecting shotgun snaps or protecting Juice Williams, Illinois senior center Ryan McDonald pursues a master's degree in aerospace engineering.
To get an idea of McDonald's bright future in that industry, NASA provided the grant that funded his on-campus research this summer.
But as exciting as it was for the second-team all-Big Ten performer to work with space-age composite materials in the lab, McDonald's curiosity was piqued just as much by the out-of-this-world engineering feats taking place at Memorial Stadium.
"I don't know if I was allowed to, but I kind of snuck in every now and then," McDonald said. "I've been up at the very, very tiptop. There are beautiful views.
"I think they did a real beautiful job with it."
On Saturday, the rest of Illini Nation gets its first glimpse at the flabbergasting renovation of Memorial Stadium's west side that caps the athletic department's two-year, $116 million project known as "Illinois Renaissance."
No offense to Eastern Illinois, the opponent for Illinois' home opener (11 a.m., Big Ten Network), but the game figures to be the least-compelling aspect of the day.
"It's very, very important that our football team play the way our stadium looks," said Illini coach Ron Zook.
Illinois invited nearly 80 legends - the athletic department spent the summer revealing the program's top 10 players at each of eight position groups - to return home to see the house that they, in essence, helped rebuild.
All without touching the colonnades and the rest of the 84-year-old exterior that makes Memorial Stadium unique.
"I think you're going to see a very sophisticated engineering piece," said Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther, "in that we had to come inside to protect the integrity of it.
"To replace all the steel and put that three-story structure where the upper deck would be is really something."
Here's the Cliff's Notes version of what the engineers and architects achieved: They removed the top 32 rows from the west main stands and the top 24 rows in the west balcony to make way for the infrastructure necessary to deliver 2,270 premium seats.
(Along the way, they brought the Great West Hall into the 21st century with upgraded bathrooms and concession stands along with architectural and artistic flourishes).
Illinois trailed almost every other Big Ten team in the race to provide indoor suites and first-class amenities for its fans, but drafting off the competition had its advantages.
"The first six months was going around and stealing the best ideas from all over the country," said Illinois associate athletic director Warren Hood, whose life has been devoted to this project since July 2004. "We stole a lot of things with the (amount of) club space."
While early renovators such as Ohio State didn't plan for much open space, Illinois' massive concourses such as the one in the "77 Club" are perfect for non game-day soirees.
The athletic department already has events such as wedding receptions booked a year in advance.
But the chance to witness games in the lap of luxury are what have fans paying an average of $400-$600 per Saturday (presuming a six-game home slate) to see Zook's Illini try to fight to the top of the Bowl Championship Series pile.
"The biggest thing that everybody says is the sightlines are so incredible," Hood said. "We're the closest in the Big Ten - and maybe the entire country - in terms of being on top of the field."