Georgia Southern will hold a ribbon-cutting celebration for the opening of the university’s Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center on Wednesday, but local media were offered a sneak preview of the new arena Tuesday.
The 95,000-square-foot facility off the intersection of Lanier Drive and Veterans Memorial Parkway – the Highway 301 bypass – will serve as a hub for student, athletic and community events in Statesboro.
In fact, after Wednesday’s opening, the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team will play the first game inside the Hill Center when they face Jacksonville University at 6 p.m. Thursday. The men get their first chance at 7 p.m. Saturday against North Florida.
The public is invited to Wednesday's 3 p.m. ribbon cutting and guided tours of Convocation Center will be offered to the public from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m., prior to the ceremony. Attendees of the ribbon-cutting will need to park at Paulson Stadium and take a shuttle to the ceremony.
The center is named in honor of the late Senator Jack Hill and his wife of 46 years, Ruth Ann Hill. Both are Georgia Southern graduates. Hill was the longest-tenured Georgia senator when he died in April 2020. An lifelong educator, Ruth Ann Hill was a triple Eagle, earning degrees from Georgia Southern in 1973, 1990 and 1991.
The arena inside the two-story complex will have a basketball seating capacity of more than 5,500, a 50% increase over Hanner Fieldhouse’s 3,100 seats. Built in a horseshoe-like bowl, all the seats offer an excellent view of the court.
The Center also provides approximately 8,000 square feet of new space for a Waters College of Health Professions sports psychology lab, a satellite research lab, faculty offices, a conference room and classrooms.