Following the significant announcement of renaming Assembly Hall to the State Farm Center on April 29, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics also planned an aggressive renovation project on the 50-year-old building. The improvements, costing around $160 million, will be adding premium seating as well as increased areas for students in the Orange Krush, among other things. With the new name and new renovations, it begs the question, what facility is next on the renovation to-do list?
Atkins Tennis Center
Sports: men’s and women’s tennis
The men’s and women’s tennis teams play at the Atkins Tennis Center and recently renovated Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex, which was added in 2009. It features 20 outdoor courts with lights as well as six courts indoors as well as new offices, locker rooms and a large pro shop in the lobby of the building.
The addition of the outdoor courts made the facility one of the best in the country, as it hosted the 2013 NCAA Championships in May. Over the course of 11 days, the facility hosted the men’s and women’s team tournament as well as both the singles and doubles tournaments as well. Temporary seating was brought in over the center courts on the south side for the tournament, and all Illinois participants were shown in front of the additional seating.
“Playing at home in Atkins and Khan creates an energetic environment for our team,” women’s tennis head coach Michelle Dasso said. “We truly feel we have an advantage.”
Huff Hall
Sports: volleyball, men’s and women’s gymnastics, wrestling
Built in 1924, Huff Hall hosts some of the most successful programs at Illinois in recent memory. The men’s gymnastics team won the national championship in 2012, the wrestling team boasted national champion Jesse Delgado at 125 pounds in 2013, while the volleyball team was the national runner-up in 2011. One thing all of these sports have in common, not including their penchant for success at a national level, is being able to call Huff Hall home. The capacity ranging from 3,800 to 4,500, depending on the sport, allows Huff to host other events, such as the men’s basketball Midnight Madness in fall 2010.
With all of these sports using the facility, Huff would seem to be a natural, if not efficient, choice to be next on the DIA’s list for renovations. The building is 89 years old and still doesn’t have air conditioning, something anyone who has been to the Stuff Huff game in sweltering August has experienced. The building’s most recent renovation was in 2011, when 2013 commencement speaker and owner of automobile manufacturer Flex-N-Gate Corp. in Urbana, Shahid Khan, donated $10 million to put an addition on the north end of the building, known as the Khan Annex.
The wrestling room on the third floor of the building was renovated in 1992. The team practices and competes in the 6,100 square foot room; although, while Illinois was the host of the wrestling Big Ten Championships in 2013, they were held in the what was formerly known as Assembly Hall.
Armory
Sports: men’s and women’s track and field
Approaching its 100th birthday in 2014, the Armory is the host facility for the men’s and women’s track teams during indoor track and field season. Its most recent renovation came after the 2003 season, when a $1.2 million project improved the surface of the building and allowed for the simultaneous running of men’s and women’s track events. The men’s and women’s track teams each experienced success this past season with a combined 19 All-Americans as well as national champion Ashley Spencer.
One of the problems with using the facility, however, is the shared space between both the women’s and men’s teams as well as the ROTC program that uses the Armory as its main building of operations. Spencer, a sophomore, said that she “wished the facilities were better so we would be able to host more meets.” Illinois only hosted the Illini Classic and Illini Open during the two-month indoor season.
Stephen is a junior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @steve_bourbon.
