Work is underway at the corner of Fifth and Cleveland avenues in Milo-Grogan, although for now all that’s planned for the space is a parking lot, not a 4,000-seat arena.
In early 2019, Rogue Fitness floated a plan to build an arena on the strip of land the company controls to the north of its large manufacturing and distribution facility.
The company told Columbus Underground at the time that the arena would serve as a home for the Rogue Invitational, while also hosting other CrossFit events, performances and concerts.
Neighbors expressed some concerns about parking – and Rogue promised to conduct a parking study – but not much was heard about the arena plan for the next year.
Last December, though, Rogue applied for a zoning variance to build a parking lot on the space, and is now moving forward with that plan.
Company spokesperson Ashley Felger Smith said that the initial reason for building the lot was as a “hard-scape to build a temporary outdoor stadium for the Invitational this year,” and that constructing an arena at that location was still in the long-term plans.
With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, though, everything has changed. Felger Smith said that the 2020 Invitational, scheduled for June 13-14, will now be held as an online event, and that plans for an arena are on hold.
Rogue has continued operations during the governor’s Stay at Home order and has actually been one of a handful of companies looking to ramp up hiring over the last month.