A lot of (digital) ink has been spilled over the summer about Ohio State's renovations to the fabled Horseshoe. (Kyle's report — complete with photos — can be found here.)
But Ohio State is a lot more than a football factory, and their $45 million investment into facilities used by 23 varsity sports proves that.
Via OSU, here's associate director of athletics facilities, Don Patko:
"We have an ongoing list of deferred maintenance projects and capital construction needs. We certainly can't get to all of them, but budgeting through the general athletics fund as well as gifts from our donors has enabled us to keep the majority of our facilities, regardless of age, among the best in college athletics."
What does $45 million get you, these days? Here's a snippet from Ohio State:
Second Basketball Practice Gym
Location: Schottenstein Center
Sports: Basketball, Hockey
Cost: $19 million
- A new practice gymnasium was built opposite the initial, original practice gym and the men's and women's basketball teams now have their own designated practice facilities.
- Locker rooms, meeting space and lounge areas were renovated for the basketball teams and new weight room and training rooms were built for use by the basketball teams and the men's hockey team.
Four New Fields
Location: Ohio Stadium, Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Proximity of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Sports: Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, Track & Field
Cost: $1.7 million
- Three turf fields - Ohio Stadium, the Woody Hayes Athletic Center indoor field and one outdoor field at the WHAC - will receive new FieldTurf surfaces this spring and summer.
- The Ohio Stadium field was installed in 2007 but the athletic department will save approximately $400,000 by replacing this field now while the other two fields are being done.
- The FieldTurf company will use its advanced recycling technology to reuse the rubber infill and use it as part of the new fields, while the old turf rolls on these fields will also be recycled into other products.
- The natural grass practice field west of the "Jesse" is also being replaced this summer.
New Video & Sound Scoreboards
Location: Bill Davis Stadium, Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and Buckeye Field
Sports: Baseball, Soccer, Lacrosse, Track & Field, Softball
Cost: $1.6 million
- The old scoreboards at these three venues were replaced this winter/spring with state of the art video and sound boards that have high definition video screens and improved information capabilities.
If you're more of a visual person, here's a photo gallery of Ohio State's updates.
