Battelle Hall
Former names Ohio Center Location 400 North High Street Public transit
1 ,
2 ,
5 ,
6 ,
9 ,
13 ,
AirConnect ,
CMAX ,
Night Owl
CoGo Owner Battelle Commons Co. Operator Battelle Commons Co.
Capacity 6,864 Broke ground February 1978 Opened September 10, 1980 Construction cost $36.5 million Architect
Godwin Böhm NBBJ
[1]
Columbus Capitals (
AISA ) (1984-1986)
Columbus Horizon (
CBA ) (1993-1994)
Columbus Invaders (
NPSL ) (1996-1997)
Columbus Quest (
ABL ) (1996-1998)
Battelle Hall (originally known as the Ohio Center ) is a 6,864 seat multi-purpose exhibit hall located in
Columbus, Ohio , part of the
Greater Columbus Convention Center . It opened as the Ohio Center on September 10, 1980,
[2] and although sometimes considered a
white elephant because of its small size and seating capacity
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7] (concert fans usually found themselves driving to Cincinnati
Riverfront Coliseum , Indianapolis
Market Square Arena , Detroit
Joe Louis Arena , Cleveland
Richfield Coliseum or Pittsburgh
Mellon Arena ),
[8] it has been used for a variety of events, including concerts (
Conway Twitty ,
[9]
Devo ,
[10]
Elvis Costello & The Attractions ,
[11]
The Stray Cats ,
[12]
Rick Springfield ,
[13] Kiss (2/19/84),
Culture Club ,
[14]
Ratt ,
[15]
The Pointer Sisters ,
[16]
Cyndi Lauper ,
[17]
Billy Idol ,
[18]
Billy Ocean ,
[19]
Richard Marx ,
[20]
Queensrÿche ),
[21] trade shows, and sporting events such as the
1993 and
1994
Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournaments. The exhibit hall was also the home of
professional wrestling cards from the early 1980s to mid-1990s with monthly visits from the
WWE and the occasional
WCW event. The hall totals 90,000 square feet (8,400 m2 ) of exhibit space - 65,000 on the main floor and 25,000 on the balcony, and can be divisible into two halls.
The first entertainment event at the facility was comedian
Rodney Dangerfield and special guest
McGuffey Lane on September 20, 1980 attended by 6,677 persons.
[22]
Battelle Hall was also home to the
Columbus Quest from 1996-1998, where the team won both championships in the now-defunct American Basketball League. Former players include Katie Smith, Sonja Tate, Tonya Edwards, Andrea Lloyd, Valerie Still, Shannon Johnson, and Nikki McCray.
Seating
Entrance
Plaque from the building's opening
Plaque from the building's opening
Unlike arenas, Battelle Hall has no permanent seats.
[23] Instead, inexpensive plastic seats attached to metal bleachers are positioned into place for scheduled events.
Seating capacities:
Bleacher seats:
Main floor - 3,116
Balcony - 3,679
Soccer set - 5,074
Concert set (with obstructed seats) - 7,588
Concert set (without obstructed seats) - 6,400
Concert in the round - 7,918
Basketball - 6,500
Ice Show (
Ice Capades ) - 5,464
North Hall set - 3,801
South Hall set - 2,494
Other Dimensions:
With risers set for concerts - 65 ft × 180 ft (20 m × 55 m)
Full hall beginning at columns - 141 ft × 240 ft (43 m × 73 m)/33,840 sq ft (3,144 m2 )
Battelle Hall North - 141 ft × 145 ft (43 m × 44 m)/20,445 sq ft (1,899.4 m2 )
Battelle Hall South - 95 ft × 141 ft (29 m × 43 m)/13,395 sq ft (1,244.4 m2 )
Balcony railing to Wall - 33 ft (10 m)
From floor to underside balcony - 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Main floor to underside of hoisting grid - 33 ft (10 m)
The exhibit hall features a 32-by-60-foot (9.8 m × 18.3 m) portable stage.
See also
References
^ Darbee, Jeffrey T.; Recchie, Nancy A. (2008).
The AIA Guide to Columbus . Ohio University Press. p. 148.
ISBN
9780821416846 .
^ Columbus Dispatch, September 11, 1980, "8,000 Attend Ohio Center Opening", pg. A1
^ Columbus Citizen-Journal, July 3, 1985, "Poor ticket sales cloud Columbus concert outlook", pg. 12
^ Columbus Dispatch, September 6, 1987, "Few superstars booked, but pop shows run gamut", pg. 4G
^ Columbus Dispatch, December 27, 1987, "Columbus held own with rock", pg. 6E
^ Columbus Dispatch, May 25, 1986, "Columbus needs more than seats to draw big-name talent" pg. F4
^ Columbus Dispatch, May 11, 1986, "Progress, growth are not in 'Hicksville' dictionary", pg. B2
^ Columbus Dispatch, September 7, 1980, "Lillyman Ready To Direct Newly Finished Complex", Supplement pg. 4
^ Columbus Dispatch, September 29, 1980, "Lewis, Twitty Strictly Country At Ohio Center", pg. C3
^ Columbus Dispatch, October 19, 1981, "Devo tries for simple, but stays weird", pg. C6
^ Columbus Dispatch, August 14, 1982, "Elvis is back - Costello, that is", pg A7
^ Columbus Dispatch, March 21, 1983, "Stray Cats, Busboys full of fun, excitement", pg. C6
^ Columbus Dispatch, July 9, 1983, "Springfield: More than meets the eye", pg. A9
^ Columbus Dispatch, April 6, 1984, "Singing not main attraction at Culture Club performance", pg. D7
^ Columbus Dispatch, October 4, 1984, "Ratt: Loud sounds and a good laugh", pg. D10
^ Columbus Dispatch, June 21, 1985, "Columbus excited over Pointer Sisters", pg. D9
^ Columbus Dispatch, December 15, 1986, "Money's show was better", pg. B8
^ Columbus Dispatch, April 23, 1987, "Despite his appearance, Idol knows how to rock", pg. C6
^ Columbus Dispatch, June 30, 1988, "City sleeps, Ocean rocks", pg. D8
^ Columbus Dispatch, October 18, 1989, "Marx sticks to his formula for success", pg. D9
^ Columbus Dispatch, May 25, 1991, "Queensryche was...well...not as bad as it might have been", pg. H3
^ Columbus Dispatch, September 22, 1980, "Dangerfield Out Of Place At Ohio Center", pg. C2
^ Columbus Dispatch, September 7, 1980, "Lillyman Ready To Direct Newly Finished Complex", Supplement pg. 10
External links
39°58′18″N 83°00′02″W / 39.9716°N 83.0005°W / 39.9716; -83.0005