Battelle Hall

Battelle Hall (originally known as the Ohio Center) is a 6,864 seat multi-purpose exhibit hall located in Columbus, Ohio, part of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. It opened as the Ohio Center on September 10, 1980, and although sometimes considered a white elephant because of its small size and seating capacity (concert fans usually found themselves driving to Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum, Indianapolis Market Square Arena, Detroit Joe Louis Arena, Cleveland Richfield Coliseum or Pittsburgh Civic Arena), it has been used for a variety of events, including concerts (Conway Twitty, Devo, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Stray Cats, Rick Springfield, Kiss ( 2/19/84 ), Culture Club, Ratt, The Pointer Sisters, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Billy Ocean, Richard Marx, Queensryche), trade shows, and sporting events such as the 1993 and 1994 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournaments. The exhibit hall was also the home of professional wrestling cards from the early 1980s to mid-1990s with monthly visits from the WWF and the occasional WCW event. The hall totals 90,000 square feet (8,400 m²) of exhibit space - 65,000 on the main floor and 25,000 on the balcony, and can be divisible into two halls.

The first entertainment event at the facility was comedian Rodney Dangerfield and special guest McGuffey Lane on September 20, 1980 attended by 6,677 persons.