Here’s some information coming from the Fighting Illini Loyalty board that unveils serious detail about the upcoming renovations to Assembly Hall.
- Construction: March 2014 — November 2016
- Project cost: $160M.
- Student floor seating will increase from 700 to 1,200.
- Team benches will be relocated to east side, behind new Orange Krush section.
- Capacity (16,618) will go down, final capacity will be 15,200-15,300. Most lost seats in A Section & B Section.
- All seats will be orange or blue.
- West side will remain the main entrance.
- 75% of project is funded by philanthropy, individual & corporate.
- A new circle drive entrance will be built on the east side.
- New scoreboard and ribbon boards.
- Escalators.
- Each suite designed for 14 comfortably, can fit up to 18.
- All concourses widened, more restrooms on each level.
- Minor renovation to the roof, nothing drastic.
- Every inch of the building will be renovated.
- Project will be done in stages.
- Illini basketball team will *not* be displaced during construction.
- AECOM design was in place fall of 2012. Now, in fund raising mode.
- Luxury seating accounts for 10% of total seats.
- RT @MarcusJ_NG #illini AD Thomas: Not where they want to be with fundraising, but making progress and confident it will continue to move along.
- RT @MarcusJ_NG #illini AD Thomas: Making progress toward securing funds for naming rights. Still chipping away at all of it.
- RT @MarcusJ_NG #illini AD Thomas: There is possibly an interest in hosting NCAA games for men and women.