Leatherneck Nation

I hope we don't have to practice near the softball field. Corbin-Olson field is a terrible field to practice on, with its many holes and tufts of grass, but that field holds sentimental value to me and I'm sure other Marching Leathernecks. I guess my only concern is that Corbin-Olson field is so convenient as it is very close to Browne and Sallee. It would be a long trek for Sousas, Drumline, and others if we have to haul equipment to the complete opposite side of campus.

I did a real quick photoshop job from the view from Google Maps of the band practice field with some parking spaces put into the pretty much the only place they'll fit, as near as I can tell.
I essentially cut out some of the parking lot from up on the hill and put it into one long row along the east side of the band practice field. That configuration would provide ~70 parking spots and is about the most you could fit in there I think. For comparison, the parking lot on top of the hill holds ~100 parking spots.

The field itself could possibly be moved a little bit to the west, but I doubt that they could move it enough for it to add any extra parking. Also, for anyone who may not be aware, that grassy space to the north of the field (south of the existing parking lot) is a pretty significantly sloped hill. I don't think there's any way to put parking on that.

If they remove enough dirt from the PAC site, it might be good for leveling that slope. Is the PAC going to have a basement level?

Well...the band practice field is essentially gone now.

Here's what the field looked like from the parking lot up the hill just to the north (as of Wednesday...they've dug out more since then).



I've heard that the band will be practicing on the fields behind Brophy or at the stadium.

Report is that the band stays, but facing a different direction.
http://www.westerncourier.com/news/mill ... b2370.html

Yea, I saw them mention that too. I just ran past the field a couple of hours ago actually. I suppose it's possible that some of the dirt that I saw piled up was covering up grass that will be usable as a field, but from the angle that I saw it, it didn't look like they'd be able to fit much more than from the front sideline to the back hash. It's going to be a REALLY tight fit if they are able to get a whole field in there.

It appears that if turned the edges will fit just perfectly for 300 feet using google earth, and there should be a substantial amount of room in front and behind the field for storage or equipment and what not.

So finally the state is sending WIU 8.9 million dollars to upgrade the CPA plans and solicit bids with the goal of starting the construction late 2020/early 2021! I use to get all excited about these things, but for some reason I am pleased but kinda wondering if this is really going to happen. WIU0812 was really into construction and I wonder what happen to him/her. Maybe the budget crisis was a bit too tough to stomach. I have got to tell you that it challenged me to not give up on our alma mater. Dr. Abraham has WIU pointed in the right direction. jc

WIU receives funds for new Performing Arts Center.
From WGEM-TV (Quincy):
https://wgem.com/2020/02/06/wiu-receive ... ts-center/

So now we have the whole ball of wax. CPA on the WAY! OWP/P Cannon Design, Inc. jc