Lauded as transformative for University of Idaho athletics, the Litehouse Center/Bud and June Ford Club Room opened Friday night to a full house of awed and appreciative donors.

With Doug and Edward Hawkins of Sandpoint and Litehouse Foods on one side and Bud and June Ford on the other, Vandal athletic director Rob Spear and University President Duane Nellis applauded their generosity and thanked them for their vision in helping launch the project that provides "the best seats in college football" to the Vandal faithful.

The Litehouse Center encompasses not only the Bud and June Ford Club Room but the loge boxes and suites that bring deluxe accommodations to the Kibbie Dome. The ceremonial ribbon cutting brought to a close a six-month renovation that completely changed the look of the 36-year-old structure. Further enhancing the new look of the home of Vandal athletics is the natural light streaming through both ends, which now are covered with translucent panels.

The Club Room was an immediate hit with the "Stadium Builders," who were on hand to witness the ribbon cutting and have a first look at their new loge, club and suite seats. They toasted the evening as the Idaho football team practiced in what seemed like daylight conditions.

While the end wall replacement was funded by the University to comply with life-safety measures, the Litehouse Center/Bud and June Ford Club Room, and new Bob Curtis Press Box on the north side all were paid for with private monies. The total invested in the replacement of both end walls and the luxury area is approximately $30 million, which brings the total invested in Kibbie Dome improvements since 2003 to almost $40 million.

Scrimmage becomes situational practice: Robb Akey took one look at the list of ailing Vandals and decided the scrimmage originally scheduled to wrap up fall camp for the University of Idaho football team would become a situational practice with no heavy hitting. The heavy hitting will come soon enough - when the Vandals open the 2011 season Sept. 1 against Bowling Green State in a rematch of the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl.

To be ready for the Falcons, Akey wants his team at full strength so Friday night's two-hour session was fully padded but not full contact.

"We adjusted our practice schedule a little bit," Akey said. "We got a lot of great work done tonight. This was a great situation practice tonight. ... I'm making sure we're being smart with our bodies."

The Vandals went through their drills before a few hundred fans - some of whom were in town to celebrate the opening of the Litehouse Center/Bud and June Ford Club Room; others to settle in for the start of classes Monday.

Akey likes the progress of his team during this fall camp. After an explosion by the offense in last Monday's scrimmage, he said the defense ramped up its production and showed steady gains throughout the week.

"I like the way this camp has gone," he said. "We're coming together great as a team.

"These guys are getting out here and competing."

But, he noted, they are getting a bit familiar.

"We know each other pretty well right now," he said. "We're hungry to go compete against somebody else."