|
When the facility
opened in 1963, it was ahead of its time in many ways, said Gene
Barton, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, who oversees
the Assembly Hall. "But today, it’s behind its time," he said,
especially in many ways related to customer service.
In commissioning the
study, "We wanted to find out what we could do and what it would
cost," Barton said. "Obviously, it’s not feasible to use students’
fees to pay for such a massive project."
"We’ve got a building
that’s got a tremendous history," said Kevin Ullestad, the Assembly
Hall’s director. "But we needed to look at how we can provide modern
amenities and conveniences and prepare the building for the next 30
years." The changes would improve the hall as a basketball and
multipurpose facility, Ullestad said, and make it more competitive
in booking additional events. "It will put us on a level playing
field."
Recommended outside
changes to the facility include an expanded entry lobby on the west
side of the building, along with the addition of four small,
two-story "satellite" structures, connected at points around the
building, as one means of providing additional space for restrooms,
concessions and offices.
In suggesting these
additions, the firm took into account the status of the Assembly
Hall as a campus icon, as a "unique design statement" at the time of
its opening, and its listing on the National Register of Historic
Places. Barton noted that Max Abramovitz, the architect of the
Assembly Hall, was consulted on the design recommendations in the
study. "He’s excited about the possibility of how this can work,
making an old building much more functional."
"The study presents
us with an opportunity not only to keep the historic integrity of
the hall but also to make it an exceptional venue for sports and a
wide variety of other events," athletics director Ron Guenther said.
"The changes the planners envision would result in a facility
everyone will be eager to visit."
On the inside,
changes would include a lowering of the arena floor by 4 feet,
accompanied by new A Section seating lowered to the same level. One
benefit, the study noted, would be that students in A Section would
be able to remain standing without blocking the view of patrons in
the higher B and C sections. In addition, the new A
Section seating on
the east side of the arena floor would be retractable, making it
possible to bring seating closer to the floor for basketball and
still provide additional floor space for other uses.
Among other
significant changes would be new, wider and padded seats; handrails
and wider aisles in all sections; more and better seating at all
levels for people in wheelchairs; the addition of elevators and
escalators; air conditioning; and courtside "club" space, located
under the A Section seats on the west side of the arena floor, for
gatherings and functions.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
 The plan also comes
with three schemes or options, the second and third of which would
introduce suites into the facility’s seating arrangement. The second
option would include 26 suites distributed around the middle, or B,
section of seats, with some of the lost seating regained by closing
up every other entry in C Section and locating new seats there. The
third option would also close up every other entry in C Section,
placing 10 smaller suites in those locations and leaving the B
Section as is.
All three options
would mean a loss in overall seating capacity. The first option,
without suites, would lower capacity from 16,692 to an estimated
16,159. The second would lower capacity further, to an estimated
15,650, with 312 of those in suites. The third would lower capacity
only to an estimated 16,279, with 120 of those in suites. These
options also affect the overall cost of the project, with the first
option estimated at $61.9 million, the second at $66.8 million and
the third at $63.4 million.
With the addition of
satellite structures and other changes, the Assembly Hall would have
seven times as many places to buy concessions and three times the
current number of both men’s and women’s toilets, as well as more
space for offices and for the flow of people through the building.
The existing facility has restrooms only on the lower concourse, and
most of the new restrooms would be added on the upper concourse, in
the satellite structures. Other improvements include upgrades to
bring the facility in line with Americans With Disabilities Act
requirements and current building codes, extensions and improvements
to the sprinkler system, installation of a smoke exhaust system in
the seating bowl and concourses, improved lighting for the arena
floor, energy-efficient lighting elsewhere, and replacement of
mechanical and electrical equipment.
The 3½-month process
involved in completing the feasibility study was a collaborative
one, involving personnel from the Assembly Hall, the Division of
Intercollegiate Athletics, the campus architect’s office and other
campus units. Also involved was an architectural class that used the
renovation as their semester assignment.
If funding is found and the
recommendations go forward, the study proposes a construction
schedule that would extend over 28 to 30 months and work around
basketball seasons. The lowering of the floor and installation of
new A Section seating would take place between the first and second
basketball seasons that fall within the timetable. Exterior work
would go on continuously, with the satellite additions complete by
the second basketball season and the entire project complete by the
third season.
[Kent Brown, University of
Illinois] |
|
For instance, we wanted to go to the
Railer game on Friday. But when you try to be involved in the
community and support the town and county, sometimes schedule
conflicts do arise. Before we even realized that the game was in
Chatham, we had already promised some friends that we would meet
them in Mount Pulaski for the good ol’ fall festival. It didn’t feel
much like fall, but it’s a great festival and we had a great time
over there in the Mount!
Congratulations, Railers!
At any rate, we still want to offer up
congratulations to all of the Railer football players and to the
coaching staff and to anyone else who has anything to do with the
program. If you’ve never played or been around a high school
football program, you probably have no idea how much work goes into
the entire operation. These people spend hours practicing, working,
poring over game films and scouting reports, going to scout other
teams; it’s an incredible procedure. That is why we are so happy for
this group of Railers! They have weathered lots of storms and now
are finally seeing some of the fruit of their labor.
It is encouraging to see that many fans
have not turned their backs on the Railers and have ridden the
proverbial wagon through thick and thin. I’m sure that has been a
great source of encouragement to players and coaches alike. We were
always taught to root for "our" team whether they were 10-0 or 0-10.
I guess for some people that’s just not fashionable enough nowadays.
Whatever, we here at the LDN are always proud of our hometown teams,
and we couldn’t be prouder of this group of Railers! We look forward
to the next win come Friday nite!
Speaking
of local high school sports squads
We sometimes get accused of only
reporting on the so-called major sports of football or basketball,
etc. Let’s be clear on what happens here. We get so many reports on
this stuff from coaches, parents and sometimes even the players that
it makes it easy to do the reporting. In an ideal world where
budgets are no object, we would simply assign a reporter to cover
every sport, and then every local athlete would get covered in
some way. However, we don’t even have a budget to cover the stuff
that we’re covering! Virtually everyone that works here already has
a full-time job. They cover sports on the side. So, If you’re
involved in an individual sport, write us at
ldneditor@lincolndailynews or fax 732-9630 and let us know how
you did or how you are doing. Make sure that we have a schedule of
your stuff, a team roster and a phone number to reach YOU or your
coach. You can mail that stuff to LDN Sports, 601 Keokuk St.,
Lincoln, IL 62656.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
To my knowledge no one who has followed
this prescription has been denied yet. And not only that, it is good
for you. I found out in my days as a player and a coach that the
best promoter of YOUR team is YOU!... or YOUR mom! So, call us and
send us your stuff, including pictures, and you’ll see your smiling
face on the cover of the LDN. What’s really great about that is that
your grandparents and your family and friends around the country and
around the world can just click on the LDN to see you; isn’t that
great?!
How ’bout
those Redbirds?
Not those Redbirds! We’re
talking about the ISU Redbirds! ISU put a 55-10 hurtin’ on Quincy
Saturday night in Normal before an excitable crowd of 8,234. The
home-opening rout featured 210 yards rushing and two touchdowns by
Quincy Washington. Vito Golson grabbed four catches, 63 yards and
two touchdowns. And how ’bout the kicking of sophomore Stephen
Carroll? Carroll booted a 48-yard field goal but later added a
53-yarder, which is the longest in Hancock Stadium history. The
record is now even at 1-1, while Quincy slipped to 0-2. Carroll and
Washington have already been rewarded for their efforts by being
named Gateway Conference Players of the Week! Lots of Lincoln and
Logan County fans were on hand for this one.
Our new favorite player is ISU
punt-return specialist Dennis Butler. This kid can shake and bake
you before you can shake hands with him. Talk about exciting. Every
time he touches the ball something exciting is just waiting to
happen. We see good things in this young man’s future!
Another
big shoe?...
Isn’t that what Ed Sullivan used to
say? We’re sure our show will never reach that level of performance,
but it is a lot of fun nonetheless. Tonight, we’ll be talking about
the Bears’ exciting win, the Railers’ exciting victory at Chatham,
the ISU win, the woes of the Illini, the incredible St. Louis
Cardinals, and we hope to do a feature on Railer volleyball. So log
on this evening at 6 p.m. to "Hear it Here!" or tune your TV to CITV
Channel 15 or your radio to FIX-FM 96.3 if you want to talk sports.
More giveaways and more trivia questions coming right at you.
Cardinals
take three from the Cubs
If the records were reversed, we would
want the Cubs to win these three. Why? Because we don’t want to see
Houston or Cincinnati winning the division. It’s just that simple.
We’ve been waiting for the Cardinals to collapse all year. It’s hard
to mourn the loss of so many loved ones and then try to do something
as meaningless as playing a game. Then try playing 162 of them. No
matter how far these Birds go, we will always remember their gritty
determination. BTW, nice article on former redbird Mark McGwire in
ESPN. I don’t usually recommend articles, but this is a good one!
Lot’s more going on, but we’re outta
time. Hope things cool off for everyone so that ya all have a great
week. See you in the funny papers!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
|
