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Saturday, Sept. 14

High school football

[SEPT. 14, 2002] 

At Lincoln
Springfield Lanphier     14   7   9   0   --30
Lincoln                          0   0   0   0   --  0


[Photos by Bob Frank]


$60 million renovation
recommended for UI Assembly Hall

[SEPT. 14, 2002]  CHAMPAIGN — The Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign could see more than $60 million in improvements and additions during the next few years if the university follows recommendations in a recently released study. The next step will be to identify private funding for the project. The study by Minneapolis-based Ellerbe Becket Architects & Engineers Inc., sponsored jointly by the Assembly Hall and the university’s Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, evaluates the feasibility of modernizing the 39-year-old Assembly Hall in line with standards set by newer multiuse and basketball facilities.

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.

 

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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]


Articles from the past week

Friday:

  • Lynx defeat Danville with five first-half goals

  • Lincoln College defeats Carl Sandburg in five sets

Thursday:

  • Lincoln College vs. Parkland College in volleyball

Wednesday:

  • Lincoln College golf reports

Tuesday:

  • No new sports reports posted

Monday:

  • Mayfield’s Mutterings...:
    We win! We win! We win!

  • Big fourth-quarter comeback sends Bears fans home happy

  • How do you like us now?
    Bears move Houdini act to Champaign

  • Lincolns wooden bats split doubleheader with Normal

  • LC vs. Cincinnati State in final of soccer classic

  • LC scores winning goal in overtime

Saturday:

  • NFL football comes to central Illinois

  • Locals have a swingin’ time with the Aussies down under

  • High school football

  • LC cross country

  • Illinois releases men’s basketball schedule


We win! We win! We win!

By Jeff Mayfield

[SEPT. 9, 2002]  I think that sentiment best describes the emotions and feelings we’ve been able to pick up from area residents describing this past weekend. With the exception of one hiccup and too much heat, everything else went pretty well this past weekend. Our only regret is that you can’t be everywhere and you can’t do everything.

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.

 

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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]


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