One corner of the Schottenstein Center's exterior is getting a facelift.
Ohio State is putting a massive electronic marquee above the southeast entrance of the multipurpose facility this week. It is 28 feet wide and 37 feet tall and costs $575,000, Schottenstein Center Director of Communications Gary O'Brien told Eleven Warriors Friday.
The money to pay for the marquee is coming out of the Schottenstein Center's capital improvement fund and set to advertise various CASE (Columbus Arena Sports and Entertainment) events, O'Brien said.
"What it's going to do is it's going to be limited to CASE events, which includes The Schottenstein Center, Nationwide Arena and whatever else," O'Brien said. "It will include stadium shows like concerts that we do at Ohio Stadium and elsewhere. Athletic events and various select and major OSU events."
Here is a shot of the board as of Thursday afternoon, with four of the five panels set in place.
For comparison sake, here is what the final panel looks like sitting on the ground next to the entrance.
Construction for the project began earlier this week and is expected to be completed by Friday. O'Brien said the plan is to first turn it on this weekend and be fully operational by early next week.
"In a way, it's a lighted version of what we already had up there," O'Brien said. "We've had major banners for athletic events and stuff like that in the same location. It's kind of an electronic version of that."
The marquee, made by Panasonic, is capable of showing video, though that is not the Schottenstein Center's intention for it.
O'Brien said there are no other plans at this time to place more marquees on any other part of the building, inside or out.
