Mitch Barnhart shares update, sneak peek of the new Memorial Coliseum

The $82 million renovation of Memorial Coliseum is moving right along and the building should be game-ready by mid-August for the start of Kentucky Volleyball season. In fact, Mitch Barnhart refused to apologize for the construction noise while updating media members on the historic facility’s progress earlier today.

“The construction folks are working diligently behind us getting to get this thing ready to go,” Kentucky’s athletics director said as crews crisscrossed the court working on various projects, including the giant new center-hung scoreboard. “They’re working hard and we need them to keep going,”

In March 2023, the project to modernize the 70-plus-year-old building began. By the time it is fully complete in spring 2025, Memorial Coliseum will have a new ceiling, new flooring, new seating, new court, a courtside club area, new restrooms, new concession stands, new lighting, and the aforementioned scoreboard. It will also have new locker rooms for all four teams that call it home — Kentucky Women’s Basketball, Volleyball, Gymnastics, and STUNT — and an improved CATS tutoring center and media facilities. The biggest improvement is one you’ll notice right away on a hot summer day like today: air conditioning.

“Welcome to no longer having to sweat at Memorial Coliseum,” Barnhart quipped.

Barhart said another noticeable change is accessibility. The entrances have all been redone, including the stairs up from the Avenue of Champions. The concourses have been renovated and new “grab and go” concessions stands will be installed along with traditional concessions. There will be new graphics all around the facility, including an upgraded memorial to servicemen and women who died in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and subsequent military service.

“Memorial Coliseum is the name of the facility and we will never forget the people who helped us have the opportunity to play the sports and who we honor in this facility and that’s the veterans. I think the staff and folks have done a really, really cool job of finding ways both outside the facility and inside the facility to honor our veterans and I think you’ll really enjoy the way that has all come together.”

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Reduced capacity, improved experience

The new Memorial Coliseum will have a capacity of 6,500, down from 10,000. Barnhart said they wanted to keep it at least 6,500, an NCAA minimum, to host postseason events. Originally, they wanted to have seatbacks in the entire facility, but the rake, aka slope, of one side of the building was such that they had to keep bench seating on one sideline. The other big change with seating is the proximity to the court. Unlike the old Memorial, seats will be very close to the court now, providing an even better home advantage.

“Competitively, again, I think it is really close to the action. I think it will help our young people. They’re going to get excited about the fans that will be close to them and cheering them on. With the new scoreboard, sound system, and lights and things that we can do, I think we can create an environment that’s really cool competitively. A lot different than what we’ve had.”

The renovations to Memorial Coliseum are so extensive that they helped Kentucky lure Kenny Brooks away from Virginia Tech. Barnhart said that excitement surrounding the women’s basketball program is at an all-time high, with 1,100 people already putting down deposits on season tickets, well ahead of previous years’ pace– and that’s before the ticket office starts sending out renewal forms.

A renovated Memorial will help Brooks, Craig Skinner, Tim Garrison, and Blair Bergmann lure top players in too.

“From a recruiting perspective, it certainly is a big deal for us,” Barnhart said. “I think people used to, a good number of folks, would use it against us in recruiting. ‘You’re playing in that place, it’s really bad.'”

Not anymore. Each team will have a soft opening to show off the facility and UK Athletics will host a grand opening when the facility is finished next spring, potentially in late April.

Construction Surprises

No construction project comes without its share of surprises. Barnhart said that during demolition, crews pulled down a wall and found a bunch of payphones (ask Alexa or Siri about those, younger readers). They also unearthed an office in the ceiling/rafters. Barnhart said rumor has it that over the years, assistant coaches would use the office to sleep if they wanted to stay overnight or didn’t have a place to stay in Lexington yet.

“That’s one of the great treats I ever had, was when someone took me upstairs in the ceiling,” Barnhart said. “That’s one of the coolest walks ever is to walk in the rafters and be right over the court and look down on it. That was spectacularly cool. For those who have a fear of heights, probably not your greatest deal, but I sort of like that.”

Barnhart said there’s talk of putting together a time capsule of sorts to share the things they’ve discovered during the renovations. So, kids, if you’ve ever wanted to see a payphone, that’ll be your chance.

Big Blue Madness at Memorial?

With air conditioning and improved lighting, sound, and seating, Memorial Coliseum will be able to host a variety of events. Barnhart said they anticipate holding small concerts, student orientations, alumni association events, Dance Blue, and even small college graduations in the facility. What about Big Blue Madness, which originated at Memorial Coliseum in the 1980s and moved to Rupp Arena in 2005? Barnhart said moving Madness back to Memorial is unlikely because it would reduce the number of fans who could get in.

“That’s an event that has been — in terms of numbers, we’ve been able to help literally 20,000 come to a Madness event so I don’t know that we want to take people out of that environment and limit the number of folks that could come. I think we’re always going to look for special ways to bring our crowds in here and bring people into Memorial. We’ll keep looking at that but that’s an awful lot of folks to displace for a Madness crowd. I don’t know if I want to take that opportunity away from people.”

Even if Madness stays put, you’ll have plenty of chances to check out the new and improved Memorial Coliseum starting on August 17, Kentucky Volleyball’s first exhibition game, or the season opener on August 30. As Barnhart said, that’s a hard deadline.

“There is no Plan B,” he said. “That’s what the staff says, I didn’t say that! …Yeah, we’ve got to be ready to go. I think they’re on task and they’ve worked hard. I think all the people, they’ve been here tirelessly working on it.”

Enjoy some more recent pictures of the new court at Memorial below.