Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Chancellor Walter V. Wendler unveils Saluki Way
09/09/2005 | 12:00:00 | General
The proposed 10-year project will establish a new campus core - Saluki Way - that integrates academic and athletic complexes and creates a showplace that develops passion and love for the University, Wendler said.
Athletics Director Paul Kowalczyk said he was ecstatic about the plan, which includes a new football stadium, indoor practice facility and a renovation of SIU Arena.
 Artist rendering of new football stadium and indoor practice facility.  | |
"This is something that is so exciting, you can't help but get caught up in the enthusiasm," Kowalczyk said. "It's a legacy-building project for this campus. It's going to change the face of the campus, change the attitude of the campus, change the perception of SIU. It's bigger than all of us."
Saluki Way will be funded by a combination of private donations, state funding and bonding, according to Wendler.
"There are ways, if we work this thing carefully and do what we need to do, to get it done," Wendler said.
Kowalczyk said he doesn't foresee a problem getting donors excited about the plan.
"I really believe there's a latent desire from our alums for athletics to make a move," Kowalczyk said. "We've talked about facilities until we're blue in the face, and there's not been anything substantive out there. Now we have something we can rally around and sell, and I think our alums and fans will respond."
 Artist rendering of renovated SIU Arena. | |
There will be "five or six" phases in the construction plan, Wendler said, and phase one could start in 2007. Wendler said he envisions fans tailgating 10 years from now amidst the new buildings along Saluki Way, and the marching band proceeding through the new hub of campus into the stadium on Saturday afternoons in the fall.
 Ground level artist rendering of renovated SIU Arena. | |
Wendler on McAndrew Stadium...
"It's an eyesore. It's the worst facility in the Gateway Conference, I think. I would also say that the basketball arena is the worst facility in the Missouri Valley Conference. We have excellent programs, and this is an incongruity that I can't live comfortably with."
Wendler on the first phase of Saluki Way...
"Two things have to happen simultaneously, at a minimum, very early on. One is the stadium. Something has to be done about the football stadium. Not just because it's an eyesore, which it is. Functionally, it doesn't meet the needs of a good Division I-AA program. Period. It just doesn't work anymore. You people in the press have to work out of an old trailer lifted up on top of the seats. Come on - this is 2005 - that's not the way things should work. Why should we in Southern Illinois be saddled with a facility that's an embarrassment? It's past time to do something about it."
"Maybe more importantly... a general use academic building that would provide the very best classroom technology for every imaginable teaching setting we have on campus - lecture halls, laboratories, seminar rooms and other kinds of teaching space. It should be an example of what we can do to make our teaching and learning environments what they need to be and should be."
Wendler on the new stadium...
"This is like taking a cork out of the dike. What this allows us to do is get out of the old stadium, never lose a gameday...this would allow us to build a new stadium and get the whole process started. When we raze the old stadium, it would open up a lawn. You'd be able to drive down 51 and see the Student Center - not a rusting hulk. I think there'd be a sense of air on campus and forever alter peoples' perceptions of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Somebody might say, `Well that's just an impression.' Well, we're in the business of impressions. That's what we do. It's very important."
Artist rendering of Master Plan
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