What would you do to improve Memorial Stadium?
Yes. Played on them my freshman year (1970).
The did The Assembly Hall (its name when I was in school) become Assembly Hall?I can't believe I have not brought this up in this thread yet (I certainly have before), but another VERY easy fix that annoys me is we should surround Grange Grove and the stadium with way more trees, wherever possible. Grange Grove is the obvious spot (guys ... it's supposed to be a G-R-O-V-E!), but what has always struck me about Champaign is that with absolutely nothing going for it from a topography point of view (i.e., flat corn land is not seen by your Average Joe as "scenic," especially once it gets cold out), there are a remarkable number of trees that have been planted in C-U that make certain areas look much more aesthetically pleasing. For example, compare the view of the farmland south of the stadium...
... with the much more wooded view west of the stadium:
Simply put, trees are aesthetically pleasing and provide an "environment" that allows fans to get a bit more lost in than a flat, utilitarian field. There are already some trees in Grange Grove, but the DIA is making a pretty lame mistake (JMO, of course) it prioritizes maintaining a strictly utilitarian flat grid of grass over an actual grove for practical reasons alone. People make tailgating work wherever, we don't need it to be cookie cutter.
I have posted these before, but I think our Grange Grove would benefit greatly from fans feeling like they are in actual grove like at some of the other premiere tailgating locations...
ILLINOIS
GEORGIA
OLE MISS ("The Grove")
INDIANA
I'm only hard on Memorial Stadium and Grange Grove because I see SO much potential in both. If we just had sort of a clunker that we loved "because it was ours" (as I frankly viewed Assembly Hall pre-renovation), I wouldn't get too worked up about improvements. However, we are blessed with such an ideal tailgating setup that only needs a few touch-ups to provide it with some actual character and atmosphere, and the beauty of Memorial Stadium (sans Horseshoe) needs no explanation.
I know that I've posted this before but the Campus Landscape Master Plan, released in 2022, addresses pretty much all of the comments about Grange Grove. Check it out and you can see the plan for the entire athletics district. Grange Grove near the stadium is to stay mostly open with a border of trees. Lot 31 across the street is to have soil restoration and tree canopy with a tree lined lane leading toward the Red Grange statue area. The thing to note is that this is a University long term plan with quite a few of these improvements being in a 5-10 year timeline, ie. 2027-2032 at the earliest.
It does sound like a boring paper but it is a quite interesting read. Check it out.
It does sound like a boring paper but it is a quite interesting read. Check it out.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Thank you for reminding me of that plan, but I think the bolded is still a really huge mistake. I'm sure the thought process is that it will simply be more logical and the best use of space to keep Grange Grove treeless on the inside ... but a cool atmosphere is very rarely created with that kind of mindset.
My guess is they didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it. Planting trees is also about the least expensive thing you can do.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
having no trees in the inside area of “Grange Grove “ makes no sense .
rename it “ Grange Prairie “ then
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
Reminder, Grange Grove is divided (with painted white lines) into prepaid tailgating spots that can be set up the night before the game. Most of those tailgaters put up pop up tents. It’s a huge moneymaker, with students on the north side and other fans on the south side. Trees in the middle of this area would complicate the divisions and cost the DIA money…
Amen 1970 John. Amen!!