Arena indoor construction underway

These days, sitting on Tom Weber's desk, former Saluki men's basketball player Walt Frazier shakes his head more than usual. "It's quite amusing sometimes to see those heads bobbing while I'm working," said Weber, director of Saluki Media Services, of his bobble head dolls. Just yards apart, Weber's office rattles occasionally from the building's indoor renovations that began in November and with that, so do his Frazier and former Cleveland Browns quarterback Tim Couch figurines.

Even the dolls know what's going on in Lingle Hall, home of the SIU Athletic Department. It is a vestige of what's in store for Saluki athletics as massive renovations and construction are under way. Whether it's taking on an extra workload or being relocated into cramped spaces, the inconveniences of the transition vary throughout the department, but no one is really griping. After all, when the work is over, the $3 million Troutt-Wittmann Academic and Training Center will be ready to make life that much easier.

But for now, from academic coordinators to strength and conditioning coaches to the athletic director, those who work in Lingle Hall cannot escape the disturbances that come along with the sweeping home improvements. Gearing up for change Walking into Lingle Hall is like entering a construction site. "I would watch your step," Weber warned. "Some days it's muddy, some days there's glue on the floor."

A band of renovation contractors now rules the halls. Unfinished walls, dangling light bulbs, power tools, wooden boards and sheets of plastic adorn Lingle Hall. Downstairs, the once concrete locker room hallway floor is being tiled. Adding to the scene is, of course, the intermittent screeching and clanking.

"We're all in this together, and we're all getting through it," said Saluki Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk. "It's exciting because it's progress." As the hall renovations are expected to be completed in March at the latest, it will bring the project a step closer to the completion of the main attraction - the Troutt-Wittmann Center, which will adjoin the north end of the SIU Arena and is projected to be finished by late fall, Kowalczyk said.

From the $4.5 million donation from Thomas 'Pete' Wittmann- a Saluki football player in the late '60s- $3 million is going toward the Troutt-Wittmann facility. The $1.5 million leftover will go toward scholarships. Wittmann handed the donation to the University after requesting that it be used for the betterment of Saluki athletics, "which is an amazing gesture because rarely do you get that size of a gift without strings attached," Kowalczyk said.

"So Pete was very trusting and I guess felt pretty good about our stewardship and knew that we would use it well." Wittmann, who returned to campus last semester for the groundbreaking ceremony, also named the building after Kenny Troutt, his roommate, teammate and business partner. "I just hope this gets the ball rolling and helps the Salukis further through greatness in athletics," Wittmann said.

And officials say the Center will do just that. "We're significantly undersized both in the weight training area and in our academic facilities," said Jason King, assistant athletic director of facilities, "Now with this donation and us being able to do this project, we're going to really get back to where we need to be as far as the standards for weight training and academics go." The two-floor, 12,000 square-foot Academic and Training Center will hold a weight training room four times bigger than the current one and an academic resource area three times as big.

Lifting under one roof
Staff members like Eric Klein are most excited about the new facility. As the strength and conditioning coach, Klein and his three graduate assistants train almost every sports team in the current 1,500 square foot weight room except the swimming and diving teams, which work out at the Student Recreation Center.

But since the indoor renovations began, the weight room has lost space, and Klein has had to restructure the teams' workout system. During the winter break, Klein created a makeshift weight room for the football team in McAndrew Stadium, where he trains the players every day. Football head coach Jerry Kill said that puts more of a burden on Klein than on the team.

"So Coach Klein is working in two places right now," Kill said. "He's the guy who's probably being the most inconvenienced right now." From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Klein's day-to-day routine involves scheduling teams to use the weight room. On top of that, Klein conducts the workouts for in-season and off-season teams. And since the spring semester, Klein goes back and forth from the weight room in Lingle Hall to McAndrew four to five times a day. That will be his daily regimen until his new office is completed in the new Center. "It's hard on me," Klein said. "I don't want any of the other athletes to think that I don't care about them because I'm only working with the football team. It's hard because to work out up there, I don't have everything right there that I need so if I forget something then I have to run back."

When the new, 6,500 square foot room is ready, the weight-training floor will finally have the space to accommodate multiple teams under the roof at once. Another silver lining beneath the sawdust is the likelihood of SIU's boost in recruitment, particularly football players, by virtue of this new facility, Klein said. When the grand opening day comes, the Center will boast one of the top weight rooms in Division 1-AA football. "They're going to have to spend more time with me than they are on the game field," Klein said, "And they'll train in one of the top facilities. So when somebody says Southern Illinois Salukis, it's not like, 'What's a saluki?' but 'Oh yeah, that's one heck of a school down there."

'A big deal'

Centralizing the training facilities is only half the undertaking. As the title suggests, the addition will house its own academic center complete with 30 computers, color printers, laser printers and laptop ports. Currently, there are eight computer workstations for the department's estimated 375 student athletes. This spells a significant overhaul of the existing system, said Kristina Therriault, assistant athletic director for student services, who has been with the department since 1995. "It's a very big deal," Therriault said. With the expansion of these computer resources comes more flexible hours for students to study with tutors, which the department pays for, and 'Study tables,' monitored study sessions.

"Right now with our study tables, we're in three locations," Therriault said. "Sunday nights, we're in Neckers. In the evenings, we're in the ASA building and in the daytime, we're in this building. So it's nice to put it in one location." Once Therriault and her staff, including one full-time coordinator, two graduate assistants and one intern, move into the Center, athletes likely will have the hours between 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to study and work on class assignments in the academic area. Being in one spot also means not having to share space with others, including those within the department.

"We have to stop at 2 in the afternoon because some of the space we use is also used for football, for meetings and other individuals who need it as conference rooms," Therriault said. When he's not training at the Stadium or attending his classes, Frank Johnson, a senior safety on the SIU football team, makes it a priority to meet Therriault three times a week for academic assistance. But even with the weekly nine-hour commitment, Johnson would not mind studying more hours in Lingle. "The room is so small that sometimes [Therriault] can't help everyone at the same time," said Johnson, who is from Vero Beach, Fla., studying health education.

Making the most of the situation

At first, Lou Antoine was a little uncertain about the move. After all, moving out of an office you've been in for four years can be a bit of a hassle. But as he settled into his temporary office in the unofficial attic of the SIU Arena - an area seldom used for anything other than storage, the electrical fuse box and a passageway to the catwalks above the scoreboard - Antoine quickly grew accustomed to his new sanctuary. "It's bigger than the old one," said Antoine, associate director of media services. "It's quiet so we can get quite a bit done up here." Besides the silent space, the temporary office located up the stairs from an old "Employees Only" door on the arena balcony does come with a pretty cool perk.

With large sliding glass windows overlooking the entire arena - located at the top of the bleachers behind where the main portion of the Dawg Pound stands during men's basketball games - the office comes with a unique bird's-eye view. "I liked the window before when you could watch everyone walk in the snow and the rain and stuff like that," Antoine said of his old office in Lingle Hall that is now under construction. "Now you get to focus on basketball practice and hear what these coaches are trying to do. It gives you a little insight to what is going on."

Coaches and players aren't the only ones benefiting from the arena renovations as part of the Troutt-Wittmann Center's construction. SIU's media services department is getting brand new offices as part of the deal. So as Antoine and colleague Jeff Honza's former office space gets renovated, the two have moved up to the attic, along with golf coach Leroy Newton since November.

"It's kind of an in your own world, looking over everything, kind of skybox everyday kind of thing, which is fun," Antoine said. Although Weber was able to stay in his old office throughout the construction, Antoine said there have been no troubles communicating despite the relocation. "We still have phones and e-mail," he said. The new media services office is expected to be ready for occupancy sometime this spring. Also moved were, assistant volleyball coaches Lenika Lamar and Tim Walenga, who have been working at the boarded-up ticket office since October when the renovations began. This office has not been used for almost two years.

"The color ... well, it's not a happy color," Lamar joked about the drabby tan-colored walls of her makeshift office. Until their new offices are finished, the coaches will continue to work out of the old ticket office, which will also be transformed into a general reception area. Temporary challenges aside, the reality of a more spacious and efficient addition looms.

By March, Weber's bobblehead dolls will stop nodding so much, but for others who will continue working with the current circumstances, the center cannot come any sooner. "I don't think I can describe in words how ready I am for this new facility," Klein said. Adam Soebbing contributed to this story.