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Woody Hayes Athletic Center (Official Thread)

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“THERE’S GOOD BONES IN THERE.” Ross Bjork told The Columbus Dispatch this week that Ohio State is still planning to renovate the Woody Hayes Athletic Center — hopefully sooner rather than later.

Facilities used to be all the rage. College football’s top programs engaged in an arms race to boast the best dining room, film room, team room and weight room. Then came the NIL era, followed by the current revenue-sharing era, and facilities shifted to the back burner. But that doesn’t mean state-of-the-art buildings are no longer important for current and future coaches and players.

Bjork said as much to The Dispatch, emphasizing the importance of Ohio State raising public awareness and building momentum as the Buckeyes prepare to update their nearly 40-year-old football facility.

“We have advanced that project to the next round from a planning and fundraising standpoint. Sometime this spring, we hope to create more visibility around how much money has been raised, the timeline and the total cost of the building. Show some images, things like that,” Bjork said. “We want to create some public awareness, public momentum around the Woody Hayes complex. We would also couple that with the ice rink, making sure we get the ice rink in the same stage, if you will. Here's the funding outline, here's the timeline, here's where it could go, here's what it looks like. And then we have some other projects that we want to create visibility around that we want to get off the ground.”



For now, Bjork hasn’t shared how much Ohio State has raised for the renovation. However, he estimates it will cost the Buckeyes around $100 million to complete the project.

The goal, Bjork said, is to create a more efficient building within the current footprint.

“What we're looking at is basically you would renovate all the existing spaces inside the current footprint,” Bjork said. “From all the offices and film breakout rooms, to the locker room, to the training room. We would move the equipment room to the back of the building, so it would actually have a loading dock. Right now, it's in the center of the building, so when you have deliveries, you're going down hallways and you might have a meeting going on. Just creating more of an efficient building inside the footprint. And then there'd be new spaces built, new weight room, new offices for the coaches, and really kind of a new entrance, a new lobby. But the rest of the building would be basically gut-renovated.

“There's good bones in there, there's good space, we just need to organize it better, expand it, modernize it, and it'll be the best building in the country. Now buildings are going to be built on efficiency. How does a player get from this point to that point in a quick amount of time? How do they train? How do they recover? How are they taught the game? Film rooms. Right now, we can't fit the entire organization in the team meeting room. People are literally standing in the hallway. Things like that are just not functional in this modern era.”

Ohio State has invested heavily in keeping up with the changing economics of college athletics. Bjork knows the next step is to ensure the team’s facilities meet the same standard. In a sport where marginal gains matter, efficiency, functionality and modernization aren’t luxuries — they’re necessities. By maintaining a top-tier building, the Buckeyes stay at the forefront of the sport.
 
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Ohio State Targeting $125 Million Renovation of Woody Hayes Athletic Center in 18 Months

Ohio State AD Ross Bjork announces the Buckeyes are planning a $125 million renovation of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, with hopes to break ground in 18 months.
www.elevenwarriors.com www.elevenwarriors.com

Ohio State Targeting $125 Million Renovation of Woody Hayes Athletic Center in 18 Months​

“Frankly, for me, it’s just time to go. We’ve got to get this thing off the ground. We’ve been talking about it long enough, and now it’s time.”– Ross Bjork on OHIO STATE Renovating the Woody Hayes Athletic Center

Bjork said the primary driver behind the project is space.

“Right now, not everyone can fit in the team meeting room when we have a team meeting,” Bjork explained. “The individual position rooms are in the same place as the coaches’ offices. So if (offensive line coach) Tyler Bowen needs to have a private meeting and somebody wants an offensive lineman to watch film, somebody has to leave.”

Bjork said the current plan is to build an updated office complex and weight room that would be part of “new construction” within the current framework, while the rest of the building would undergo “a total renovation.”

Ohio State has no plans to relocate the WHAC, as Bjork noted the program values its location and proximity to Ohio Stadium.

“The location’s great. We don’t want to lose that opportunity of that location,” he said. “But new construction will be part of it, and then a total renovation timeline. We’ve raised some money on it, but that’s why we need some public visibility. We need to get it out to the public. We need to let people know.

“Once we have that, we can really map out a time. It’s not a short turnaround time. You have to design it, you have to go out to bid, you’ve got all the approvals, so we’re probably still 18 months or so from breaking ground. But we’ve got to get the process activated to get the approval started, then we can really put the design in place to have the right building.”

Bjork estimated the project will cost $125 million. He said Ohio State has “gifts committed” and “proposals in front of people” that would get the athletic department close to that figure, but there is still work to do.
 
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