Barnhart expects renovations will force UK teams out of Memorial Coliseum in 2023-24
Planned renovations to Memorial Coliseum will force four University of Kentucky athletic programs out of the historic facility during the 2023-24 school year, UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said Thursday.
In an interview with the Herald-Leader, Barnhart said UK’s gymnastics, STUNT, women’s basketball and volleyball teams will need to find “some alternate places to play” next school year.
“We think we’ll be out of (Memorial Coliseum) for one competitive year,” Barnhart said. “That’s what we think. We’re trying to finalize those plans. We’ve got a whole crew of people trying to figure out how that all comes together. It’s complicated.”
Barnhart didn’t specify potential locations where those four UK programs could play home games during the 2023-24 school year.
In August, Barnhart outlined renovation plans for the 72-year-old facility, which he said have been approved by UK’s Board of Trustees.
During that press conference, Barnhart said renovations to Memorial Coliseum will probably begin in 2023 and will include improvements to all seats, the construction of event space and the installation of air conditioning, which the building currently doesn’t have.
On Thursday, Barnhart said discussions about renovating Memorial Coliseum have occurred “for a long time.”
“It’s a complicated deal. You’ve got the roof, restrooms ... it’s a facility that just needs a lot of work,” Barnhart said. “It’s not been easy, and then you got into the COVID time space, and that set us back ... and then the supply chain changed. Having to get our arms around all of those pieces to be able to walk forward has been a really big challenge.”
In addition to hosting home events for UK’s gymnastics, STUNT, women’s basketball and volleyball programs, Memorial Coliseum hosts several non-athletic university events like commencement activities, the DanceBlue dance marathon, student group meetings and orientations.
“It’s a university facility, it’s used for a lot of things. It’s really, really important for a lot of reasons to get it right,” Barnhart told the Herald-Leader, adding that a priority in the renovations is to highlight the facility as a memorial to Kentuckians who served in the military.
Barnhart has also said a UK Athletics Hall of Fame could be incorporated in the new-look Memorial Coliseum.
From a logistical standpoint though, the planned renovations to Memorial Coliseum will probably force four UK teams out of the building for the 2023-24 school year.
The UK women’s basketball team typically plays two home games a season in Rupp Arena, and the rest at Memorial Coliseum. The UK gymnastics team typically has its first home meet of the season — known as Excite Night — at Rupp Arena, and its remaining meets at Memorial Coliseum.
In recent seasons, the UK volleyball team has practiced and played all of its matches inside Memorial Coliseum, but the team has played at Rupp Arena in the past.
UK added STUNT to its varsity athletics program in September 2021, and hosted its home events last season inside Memorial Coliseum.
But, simply moving all four sports to Rupp Arena is a task easier said than done.
In addition to the potential scheduling logjam that would come with trying to host five different UK athletic teams — along with other events — in a similar time frame at Rupp Arena, there’s also the potential cost aspect.
During his August press conference, Barnhart cited the high price that comes with using Rupp Arena.
“Our rent went from a couple hundred thousand, $250,000 a year, under the old Rupp. We’re at almost $2 million a year in rent,” Barnhart said. “That’s a debt service we took on as a department ... that was an expenditure as well that we invested.”
While these upcoming renovations to Memorial Coliseum — which formerly hosted the UK men’s basketball team — will be significant, they won’t be the first ones in the history of the venue.
Here’s a brief recap of some past construction and renovation projects at Memorial Coliseum.
▪ Constructed at a cost of approximately $4 million and completed in 1950.
▪ Underwent a $1 million renovation that included a new gymnastics locker room, team room and offices for coaches in 1990.
▪ UK’s Center for Academic and Tutorial Services, a $2.4 million facility, opened in Memorial Coliseum in 1998.
▪ New video board and scoreboard installed in 2007.
▪ New basketball court installed in 2007.
▪ New sound system and speaker cluster added in 2008.
▪ New LED video board and new LED ribbon board installed in 2018.
▪ New Taraflex playing surface for volleyball installed in 2021.
