WELCOME TO SIUC
THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO
An aerial view of the new Saluki Stadium.
Saluki Stadium BY PETE SPITLER THE SOUTHERN
The days of Southern Illinois University’s football team being associated with the aging relic known as McAndrew Stadium are about at an end. With the recently-named Saluki Stadium edging ever closer to completion, the Salukis will officially close the book on a place they had called home since 1938 on Sept. 2 when SIU hosts Quincy in its season opener inside its new home. “The main things that need to be completed are the sitework
around the stadium and finishing touches in the press box,” said SIU director of athletics Mario Moccia. “We’re adding a lot of graphics to the exterior like posters that I think bring the stadium to life.” Saluki Stadium has a capacity of 15,000, including 1,080 chairback seats. The horseshoe-shaped facility has a grass berm enclosing the north endzone for lawn seating and features 12 luxury suites — an amenity McAndrew Stadium never had. “Now we’ve got the ‘wow’ factor,” said SIU head football coach Dale Lennon. “People
Page 32 Friday, August 20, 2010 The Southern Illinoisan
Designed to reinforce old SIU traditions but also create new ones
who have been coming in during the summer have left with a positive impression of the Saluki program and the stadium is a very positive factor in recruiting.” A concept that began with discussions between Moccia and former SIU football coach Jerry Kill after SIU’s 20-3 loss to Montana in 2006 has finally come to fruition. A fact that defies the prediction of fans who said that it couldn’t — or wouldn’t —be built. “We talked about a really tight stadium without a track that would meet the NCAA legal limit in terms of spacing
between the field and the stands,” Moccia said. “When you walk in, you can’t see anything but the seats and the berm and it feels like you’re surrounded by fans.” One of the purposes of the new stadium was to reinforce old SIU traditions but also create new ones. The Saluki fight song will be engraved onto the brick wall of the Boydston Center, which is the new athletic support facility also included in the $83 million first phase of Saluki Way. The grave marker of SIU’s first mascot, King Tut, will also be moved over from its old
McAndrew Stadium location. Moccia said there are specific plans involved with the pyramid-shaped artifact. “We’re talking to a few individuals in town about collecting certain Saluki artifacts as opposed to actually finding the body of King Tut,” Moccia said. “When it comes to actually moving the pyramid, we hope to add a sort of time capsule.” In regards to the Quincy game itself, it may be the last Thursday night game SIU plays. The philosophy of the Kill era was to play a lower-level team as a warmup, but with the