One of the first buildings visitors to Eastern Kentucky University see coming off Interstate 75 down the By-Pass is Alumni Coliseum. It’s been like that for well over a half-century. And it will remain so on the outside, but the inside is undergoing major change.
The transformation of Alumni Coliseum is well underway. Demolition on the first floor of the athletics focused facility began right after basketball season. The groundbreaking of A.C. in 1961 included a shovel in the hand of then Vice-President Lyndon Baines Johnson. And lots of bouncing balls have occurred since 1963.
“We talk about the front porch and you know athletics sometimes being the front porch, but this facility is really the front porch. It’s the gateway to campus and it’s the place where students come in and it’s the place where students go out,” said Roan.
EKU Athletics Director Matt Roan. 60 years of use does take a toll. As Roan said, over time, facilities do become liabilities with water issues. He noted to fix it and making it shiny and new would make for an enjoyable experience. And while there will be new seating, a new court, new hoops, new net, Roan added one end of the Baptist Health Arena will be a whole new scene with a 300-seat concourse club. On game nights, it will be a place to socialize with a glass door opened up.
“But every other day we could have our teams in there practicing and that glass partition can be closed and the Chamber of Commerce can have a lunch and learn. Jill Price and Jesse Hood and the conferencing events team can program that space for campus constituency groups or external groups,” said Roan.
Two programs in EKU athletics certain to feel lots of impact from the $47 million Alumni Coliseum project are the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Men’s Coach A.W. Hamilton said his Colonel team led the ASUN Conference in attendance the last two seasons and now this project comes along.
“We have such an environment in there that it’s been a game changer for us and now the fan experience is gonna be enhanced even more. For us, recruiting-wise we had a great space in there and I loved every second of it, but now we get to expand on that space and to a players lounge and to a bigger locker room, to things that recruits and players love. It’s just gonna do so much for our program.”
And Hamilton said attendance can grow further. As he puts it, when you knock out a wall and put a club level in and you put suites, that’s gonna bring some energy.
With such a major overhaul comes some adjustment and for Coach Hamilton’s basketball team that means a different type of schedule.
“Our challenging schedule this past year helped us. I think it was the 33rd hardest schedule in the country. We played two final four teams and it helped us for conference play. So, going into this year, November and December, our games are gonna be on the road. The plan is to be back in our arena for conference play in January,” said Hamilton.
Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum is also home to the EKU Women’s Volleyball team. Johnna Bazzani is in her sixth season as head coach. Bazzani said the volleyball program has made transitions before and this is another good one.
“Volleyball, when Geri Polvino was the coach they fought really hard to play in Alumni Coliseum because they were playing in Weaver, so now having spent the last 20 plus years playing in Alumni, now the renovation is happening, I think just the success, I think it helps recruiting. It just helps build the environment as a whole,” said Bazzani.
And that environment includes how a new facility may pave the way for a more intense fan atmosphere. Bazzani said that comes with structural modifications.
“I do like that they are bringing the seats down to floor level. I think right now there’s a wall that kind of bridges that gap with fans and players and so being able to have seats more closer to the floor is gonna allow more rowdiness from the fans, more cheering,” said Bazzani.
The volleyball season gets underway in August, so the team will not be able to play this year in a re-done Alumni. Home games will be played in the Rick Erdman Olympic Sports Training Center. Bazzani said that will be a vocal environment, but she looks forward to 2025 in the new coliseum.
EKU Associate Vice President for Facilities Management and Safety Bryan Makinen explaining the demolition of the first floor of Alumni. No evidence now of coaches offices, sports medicine, locker rooms, or compliance space. And Makinen said the needs of the 1960’s were different than the needs of 2024 and beyond.
“Who could have envisioned the amount of electrical load and need that there is today. Back when the building was built, it did not have air conditioning and we’ve added air conditioning, but the loads that we have and the loads we’re expected to have..we want to make sure our systems are designed today to meet our needs of today but also the needs of the future and look as far into that future as we can,” said Makinen.
In addition to hosting sports tournaments, commencement ceremonies, and new student orientation, the updated facility will offer more opportunities for hands-on student learning. That could include areas of hospitality, physical therapy, broadcasting and electronic media, and food and nutrition. Makinen said athletic training for students will take on a new look.
“Making sure we give that wholistic experience to those students who are going to be practitioners in that particular field moving forward and having modern amenities to get used to what they should expect when they leave the university. And all of that and so much more is very exciting. I am confident we’ll host other events in here.
Makinen said while much of his excitement is found in electrical-plumbing-and conduit embellishment, there will be lots of amenities catching the eyes of prospective students and parents. Like a team store with lots of EKU items.
And then there are opportunities for new entertainment, so steps are being taken to be prepared for musical performances, keeping in mind protecting the playing floor but handling larger more modern equipment.
“Think of a concert, having that in mind. We’re designed that now so the building can accommodate a larger stage rigging and a larger lighting rigging for everything from commencement to concerts that may come into this facility and other uses,” said Makinen.
Makinen noted the seating bowl inside the arena will be not be changed out when play resumes next January. That will come in a subsequent period. Plans call for new seating along with new bleachers. One area of the arena that won’t be altered, the iconic wooden laminated cross-arched roof, spanning 309 feet. Both Makinen and Coach Hamilton were confident in saying, a much refurbished Alumni Coliseum will open in January with not even a thought about a delay in that schedule.
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Picture on plaque outside Alumni Coliseum
Baptist Health Arena inside Alumni Coliseum
EKU Women's Volleyball Coach Johnna Bazzani
EKU Associate Vice President for Facilities Management and Safety Bryan Makinen
First-floor demolition in A.C.
