CHAMPAIGN — Last June, University of Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman told reporters he hoped to announce plans to launch a Division I hockey program by year's end.
The team has the potential to transform downtown Champaign, with a new hockey arena and an expansion of the MTD's Illinois Terminal among the highlights of a proposed $200 million project called The Yards.
But since that optimistic news conference, the MTD has missed out on two federal grants totaling $25 million, and Whitman has pushed back the timeline to the end of the academic year.
Still, local officials remain confident The Yards project will pan out, and Whitman continues to push for a hockey team, which he needs to raise an estimated $50-60 million for.