St. John Arena

St. John Arena
St. John
Exterior view in 2014
Map
Location410 Woody Hayes Dr
Columbus, OH 43210
Coordinates40°0′19″N 83°1′8″W / 40.00528°N 83.01889°W / 40.00528; -83.01889
Public transitBus transport Central Ohio Transit Authority 1
Bus transport CABS
Bike transport CoGo
OwnerOhio State University
OperatorOhio State University Department of Athletics
Capacity13,276 (basketball)
Construction
OpenedNovember 1956
Construction cost$4 million (approximate)
Tenants
Ohio State Buckeyes (NCAA)
Men's basketball 1956–1998
Men's gymnastics 1956–2019
Wrestling 1956–2019
Women's basketball 1965–1998
Men's volleyball 1968–2019
Women's gymnastics 1970–2019
Women's volleyball 1971–2018

St. John Arena is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The arena was named for Lynn St. John, who served as Ohio State's men's basketball coach and athletic director until 1947. It was designed by Howard Dwight Smith, architect of Ohio Stadium. It opened in 1956 to serve as the home of multiple Buckeye athletic teams, primarily the men's basketball team. Prior to its construction, the men's basketball team played off-campus in the Fairgrounds Coliseum at the state fairgrounds. St. John Arena served as home of the men's and women's basketball teams until it was replaced by Value City Arena in 1998, while the remaining tenants moved to the Covelli Center in 2019. It is still occasionally used by the men's and women's basketball teams for games and is used before every OSU football home game for The Ohio State University Marching Band's Skull Session.