The Illinois football program revealed part of its hand to the media Tuesday with a tour of the brand new football performance center and renovated west side of Memorial Stadium. The renovations are not yet complete, but project manager Warren Hood said crews are working 16-hour days and assured the media the stadium will be fully functional for the Illini home opener Saturday.

The $120 million face lift of the west side includes club seating on two separate levels: the Colonnades Club and the 77 Club – a new outdoor balcony, luxury suites and press boxes for both print and broadcast media.

All concession stands and restrooms on the west side have been upgraded as well, and the club levels have concession areas with first-class food choices, carpeted seating areas, air conditioning and high definition televisions.

The new section of Memorial Stadium is not just a structural face lift, either.

Extensive murals of past Illini teams and players cover most of the walls in the common areas, making the stadium not only an architectural and historical gem, but a piece of art as well. Paint crews will be working through the night up until Saturday to finish the art.

It may seem that the Illinois players were forgotten in the Illinois Renaissance project when looking at the renovated west side, but underneath the north end zone bleachers sits the $5 million Illinois football performance center, which includes a lounge for recruits, a new players’ lounge and full-length windows that look out onto Zuppke Field.

But the gem of the performance center is the brand new 16 thousand square foot weight room. The mirror-filled room, which neighbors the new Activities and Recreation Center, is more than three times the size of the old weight room and features all new weight and training equipment that is Olympic certified. It is also the biggest football-only weight room in the nation.

The renovations mark the end of a four-year process to revamp Memorial Stadium while maintaining the original look of the historic building. For more on the renovations, check out Friday’s edition of the Touchdown Times.