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LOOK: Illinois releases renderings of Football Performance Center

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

The University of Illinois has released renderings of the Football Performance Center early Monday afternoon. Construction is anticipated to start in 2018 with completion coming in 2019.

The official Twitter account of Illinois football released the renderings on Monday, and athletic director Josh Whitman spoke to the media regarding the project and also talked about the “With Illinois” campaign, in which Illini athletics aims to raise $300 million.

Along with the images, Illinois also released a statement regarding the “With Illinois” campaign, which highlighted the purpose and the goal of the fundraiser.

Illinois intends to split the $300 million into three categories: student scholarships, capital projects and student-athlete enhancement.

Of that total, $200 million is designated for capital projects — including the Football Performance Center — $70 million will go towards student scholarships and the remaining $30 million will be reserved for student-athlete enhancements.

“For Fighting Illini Athletics, this campaign is about pursuing a standard of excellence,” said Whitman. “It is about using athletics to advance the interests of the total university, and making our community and entire stat a better, more enjoyable, prouder place to live. Now, while we are building, is when we need the support of our fans the most.”

Ground for the Football Performance Center is expected to be broken in early 2018 and the project is expected to be completed in 2019. The cost for the new facility is $79.2 million.

After Illinois released the renderings and a full statement from the Department of Athletics, Whitman spoke with the media regarding the campaign and the new project.

Whitman said that the new facility would “absolutely put us in the top-tier of the B1G.”

Here were some other statements made by Whitman, as reported by Jeremy Werner of the Illini Inquirer.

Illinois is trying to get on pace with other programs in the B1G and hoping the construction of the new facility will be appealing to recruits and will serve as a benefit to current student-athletes.

Of the $79.2 million needed for the project, Whitman says that nearly $20 million has already been raised.

The “With Illinois” campaign launched on Oct. 17, 2017 and will run through 2022. The overall goal is to raise $2.25 billion for the University of Illinois.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB