Rogue Fitness plans arena by headquarters
Rogue Fitness is proposing to build a 4,000-seat arena adjacent to its Cleveland Avenue headquarters in the Milo-grogan neighborhood.
The arena would be located at 545 E. 5th Ave. The site is now an empty lot just north of Rogue’s offices at 1011 Cleveland Ave., on the southwest corner of Cleveland and East 5th avenues. The building would continue the brick industrial style of Rogue’s A rendering shows the proposed Rogue Fitness arena. headquarters, based on a conceptual rendering.
Ashley Smith, who handles marketing for Rogue, said the venue would
have stadium-style seating and “a couple” of suites. It would serve as the site for a recently announced annual Rogue Invitational fitness competition, and at other times as a recreation center and dining facility for employees. The company employs about 600, Smith said.
The project is still early in the process. Rogue officials presented the concept to the Milo-grogan Area Commission last week, said Charles Thompkins, chair of the commission. Commission members were told that a study is underway to ensure
that adequate parking would be available for the facility.
Local music and sportsevent backers said such an arena, which would have less than a quarter of the seating capacity of Nationwide Arena or the Schottenstein Center, could be a welcome addition to Columbus.
Brent Lalonde, spokesman for the Arnold Sports Festival, said Arnold personnel “have already had preliminary talks about taking advantage of Rogue Arena” during the annual festival. “The Arnold,” as it’s often called, has been growing and seeking more space beyond the Greater Columbus Convention Center and the Ohio Expo Center for its multiple events, which draw about 200,000 people to Columbus in late February to early March.
Lalonde noted that Rogue already “has been a valued sponsor and partner of ours for many years.”
Linda Logan, executive director of the COLUMBUS Greater Columbus Sports Commission, said in a statement that “Rogue’s proposed new arena will give Columbus yet another impressive facility to bring more local, regional and national sporting events to our community, while enhancing the overall experience of existing events like the Arnold Sports Festival and providing an opportunity to host events of all levels.”
Music bookers also welcomed plans of a new midsized venue, which could seat about twice as many as Express Live! or the Newport Music Hall.
“A lot of cities have something like that,” said Cory Hajde, owner of Columbusbased booking agency
Bravoartist.
Hajde said he typically books shows that draw anywhere from 50 to 600 people, but would like the ability to book comedy and music events in a somewhat larger setting that isn’t too costly and isn’t locked up by a big promoter. He said his firm used to book acts into the Park Street Saloon near the North Market, which could seat 1,000; that bar closed in late 2017 to make way for new development.
Rogue doesn’t yet have a firm cost estimate for the project, Smith said, as details of the design and layout are still being hammered out. She said that any food facilities in the venue would be open to the public as well as employees.
Rogue opened its 600,000-square-foot Cleveland Avenue headquarters and factory in 2016 on the former Timken Co. site. The project has been seen as a catalyst for the neighborhood, which struggled after the departure of factory jobs by the 1980s.