An altered “Three in One” is not the only change Illini fans will deal with Saturday when they enter Memorial Stadium.

Fans will see the progress of the Illinois Renaissance, a multi-year, privately funded $121 million renovation of the 84-year-old stadium. The most glaring changes to the stadium are in the north end zone and on the west side.

“It means a lot not only to the program but to everyone that’s ever played here,” head coach Ron Zook said. “It’s going to be exciting; it’s going to make the whole stadium different.”

A $12.5 million, 5,000-seat student section in the north end zone is complete and will be the new home of Block I, the Illini Pride student cheering section. Block I has sat on the east stands since 1924, and some student fans took the news of the move negatively.

“We did some polls and the responses we got were pretty overwhelmingly negative,” said Cody Bornsheuer, Illini Pride executive board vice president for Block I. “But I think people are starting to warm up to it more. I’ll be the first to admit I was really pleasantly surprised by the turnout and I think the students, after they get past the initial disappointment about not sitting on the sideline, are going to like the new section.”

Associate Athletic Director Warren Hood said effort was made to aesthetically match the brick and limestone used in the new sections with the rest of the stadium. Zuppke Field’s carved limestone wall was moved from beneath the scoreboard and is now the center of the red brick wall that is the base of the new section, just yards from the back of the end zone.

To the east of the Zuppke wall, near the players’ entrance tunnel, now sits the 38,000-pound limestone Grange Rock. Dedicated to the great Illini running back Harold “Red” Grange in 1994, the rock will now be part of a new football tradition when players enter the field before kickoff.

The north end zone will also host the Marching Illini in a special front section that was designed with the band in mind. The Marching Illini will have extra wide rows and direct access to the field for their halftime performances.

“I know the students and band are going to be excited having their own area,” Zook said. “Shoot, I don’t think it gets better than that.”

Students must enter the new section from one of two entrances on Irwin Drive between the stadium and the IMPE construction.

Hood said workers are still putting in about 12 hours a day trying to complete the final touches on the new section, which includes installing signage in the new concourse and on bathroom doors.

Construction will continue on the west side of the stadium throughout the season and should be completed in time for the 2008 campaign, Hood said. Support beams are visible in the upper level where bleachers were removed, but within a couple of weeks these beams will be taken down and in their place the new structure will be visible.

The upper balcony and rows 41-75 of the lower deck will be completely closed this season. Affected season ticket holders have been reassigned to other locations in the stadium. When construction is finished, the west side will feature 41 public suites, four University suites and a new press box.

An anonymous donor pledged $5 million this summer to help build a weight room and mezzanine level below the north end zone student section.

That project was added to the original design and, when finished next season, will host high school recruits and players’ families in the ground level 30,000-square-foot space.

Assistant Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Reggie Mitchell believes this new area will help with recruiting, too.

“When we’re bringing some guys in on an official visit, the first things the parents say is ‘I’ve been following the construction of the stadium, and it looks like you’re going to have one of the best stadiums in the country,'” Mitchell said. “Not only do we have a great product to sell in the University of Illinois, but now we have a great stadium, great facility; so it’s going to help us tremendously.”

Mitchell has helped Zook sign back-to-back top-30 recruiting classes.

“We have everything that everyone else has and from that standpoint we won’t lose a kid because he says that place has better facilities or that place has better facilities,” he said. “Coach Zook has always said people make the place, so just having facilities will help us, but it’s the University of Illinois that’s really going to sell itself.”