Ohio State St. John Arena

St. John Arena, the former home of Ohio State basketball and now the host of the Skull Session, the pregame football pep rally, no longer is being targeted for demolition in the near future.

(Ari Wasserman, cleveland.com)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- At Ohio State, a new building is always going up. It looks an old one won't be coming down.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the university has changed its mind on demolishing St. John Arena, the former basketball home of the Buckeyes that now serves as the home of the Skull Session, the popular pep rally before football games.

Ohio State announced in 2012 that St. John Arena would likely be demolished and its prime space across from Ohio Stadium used for classrooms or student housing. That was part of the plan as the Buckeyes prepared a new arena that would house some sports that were playing in St. John, like wrestling and volleyball.

That new Covelli Arena eventually became just part of an overhaul that Ohio State last year said would include three new facilities at a cost of more than $67 million.

But the traditionalists appear to have won this one. And it seems like a worthy win.

St. John Arena hosts the pregame Skull Session pep rally before home football games.

So much had to be redone at St. John that it seemed just taking it down would be cheaper and easier. But what to do with that pep rally on football Saturdays was always a question mark.

Now it's a question that won't need an answer.

The Dispatch reported that that Ohio State Board of Trustees' planning committee will be presented Thursday with three alternate ideas for what to do with St. John.

But tearing it down isn't part of the plan for now.