Writerbuckeye wrote:

krazie45 wrote:

thedynasty1998 wrote: You make an interesting point. However, the Scott was built first, therefore it became Columbus' first large arena. Then when Columbus got the hockey team, they needed somewhere for them to play and they obviously were not going to play at a place that is owned by the University.

If Nationwide would have been in place first, maybe the renovation of St. Johns would have made more sense.

The point is that OSU never needed the Schott and the construction of Nationwide proved it so. Now you have two competing arenas which puts Columbus in a situation where everyone loses.

What really angers me is the new addition OSU is trying to put onto The Schott. It's one thing to be naive enough not to admit you screwed up...it's another to make the problem worse by wasting more money.

You're clueless about Ohio State. The additions to the Schot now being planned are basically enhancements for the players. New practice gyms and space that will allow players to enhance their games without having time conflicts between teams. It will be another huge positive factor in recruiting -- the same as the Schott has been, whether folks want to believe it or not (Matta has said so and I'll take his word).

There was no way to renovate St. John to accomplish everything that needed to be done. The structure of the build itself was questionable as it had suffered microfractures in the upper level beams from years of loud music. It's had to be shored up more than once to keep it safe.

Plus the basic structure of St. John would not lend itself to luxury suites and the other amenities you almost need in today's college basketball world to keep things profitable (or at least break even).

Looking back, if there had been a way to make the basketball arena a bit smaller, but include the nicer lockkerroms, suites, and practice gyms and offices -- and build a smaller hockey arena (10,000 seats), that would have probably been better.

thedynasty1998 wrote: Columbus is a top 20 city in the US in terms of population, how many other cities that size only have one arena?

I honestly don't know the answer. I'm willing to guarantee that every single one has more than one, although they most certinaly also have more than one professional sports team.