Renovations coming to Memorial Coliseum; will force several UK teams to play elsewhere for 2023-24 season

With multiple programs fighting for updates facilities, it has finally been announced that the one most needing it will finally get done.

Memorial Coliseum is a staple on the Kentucky campus, and will not get the upgrades that many have been pleading to happen for years. That includes adding air conditioning, which is just a wild statement to write.

Mitch Barnhart, in an interview with The Herald Leader, confirmed the updates will be coming. He also mentioned that four programs that use the arena for home games will be playing elsewhere for the 2023-24 season.

“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.”

The four programs that use Memorial are Women’s Basketball, Volleyball, Gymnastics, and STUNT. With the news of the renovations, that means that each program will have to play their home games/matches elsewhere.

Rupp Arena already hosts a few women's basketball games each season, now the question becomes where will the remainder take place for each program?

Either way, this announcement is a huge step in the right direction to upgrade the facilities inside UK Athletics, to help keep all four programs that call Memorial home at the top of their respective sport.