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St. John Arena
St. John Arena was, and still is, a beautiful and underrated facility. Although it is old, a little outdated,
and its concourses are narrow, it is a terrific old fieldhouse-style arena. Built between Ohio Stadium and famous Lane Avenue, St. John now houses the band's Skull Session, the pregame performance before football games that always packs the arena. It's a good site
for that event because it is a very loud venue and its seating structure is built up instead of back. Most of the seats have
a good view, and the wooden seats are unique among college arenas.
St. John is the work of true architecture, because while its design isn't functionally perfect, it is simple
and aesthetic. The stairs are sectioned at the triangular corners, and the concourses are bullet-line straight. Most seats
are on the sides, as large supporting towers extend into the corners, limiting seating there. Still, the arena's seating bowl
is a continuous level, with concourses separating the sections to prevent long walks to the concourse. The court area is large,
although not large enough to host hockey, and folding bleachers sit courtside.
In its prime, St. John was comparable to Assembly Hall in Bloomington in terms of its atmosphere. It closed for basketball with the close of the 1997-98 season. Interestingly, the final game
was a 53-52 loss to Indiana, one in which an Indiana player stole an OSU pass and layed up the winning basket in the final
minutes.
It is rare that a school would preserve such an old arena, but OSU did, and it is still a fine place to
check out on the OSU campus.
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