It’s a great time to be a Buckeye — defending a NCAA championship, on a historic winning streak, the unanimous No. 1 ranked team in the nation and now a new stadium.
Ohio State announced plans to begin construction on The Covelli Center that will be the new home venue for the school’s men’s and women’s volleyball programs, along with five other Ohio State sports. You can go to the website if you’re eager to learn the heavy machinery that they’ll be using.
The 3,700 seat on-campus arena will be more than 100,000 square feet and feature state-of-the-art technology, including a video scoreboard. In addition, The Covelli Center will serve as the practice facility for both Ohio State volleyball teams and have updated locker rooms, offices and training and treatment rooms.
“This facility will change the entire game-day experience for our volleyball team,” Ohio State coach Pete Hanson said in a statement. “From the in-venue atmosphere to the technology used in player-development, we will be among the very elite in what we can offer both current and prospective student-athletes.”
The Buckeyes since 1998 have played their home matches in St. John Arena, which will also be the site of the upcoming NCAA Tournament in May. St. John Arena was built more than 50 years ago as a basketball venue.
The Covelli Center will be a part of the new Athletic District at Ohio State.
The Athletic District was developed to consolidate a majority of Ohio State practice and playing facilities into one area. Among the new buildings for the Athletic District is the Schumaker Student-Athlete Development Complex that will provide improved nutritional, physical and psychological developments for Ohio State players.
The budget for the Covelli Center is $49.7 million, according to the minutes from the Ohio State Broad of Trustees meeting in January. The venue also is a two-year construction project that is currently scheduled to begin in June, according to meeting’s minutes.
Glad to hear volleyball taking front stage somewhere