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Robert Morris University

RMU Names OVG Facilities Manager of the UPMC Events Center

The new home of the Colonials will open in 2019.

events center

Pittsburgh, August 29, 2018 – Robert Morris University has awarded management of the UPMC Events Center to OVG Facilities, which manages several university sports and entertainment complexes throughout the United States.

The 161,000 square-foot multi-purpose facility, the future home of the Colonials, is under construction on the university’s Moon Township campus. OVG Facilities will provide full management, booking, and operational services to the UPMC Events Center, which boasts a 4,000-plus-seat arena dubbed Peoples Court, a practice court, locker rooms, a strength and conditioning center, and concessions. 

The complex also includes an 11,000-square-foot conference and meeting space for campus events and outside organizations. The facility will host all RMU athletic games for men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball, as well as provide a venue for other events, such as concerts, commencement, featured speakers, banquets, and much more.

“The UPMC Events Center is a remarkable complex, and we are thrilled the university has selected us to operate it,” said Oak View Group’s Co-Chairman of Facilities, Peter Luukko.  “It’s a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility, and we can’t wait to see the impact it will have on the university and community. Our team is well versed in what it takes to open university complexes, and we are diligently working towards opening the events center. We look forward to becoming part of the community.”

The $43 million UPMC Events Center has attracted several corporate sponsors, including UPMC, Peoples, Koppers, Eat ‘n’ Park, PNC, P.J. Dick, Pepsi, and PGT Trucking. The UPMC Events Center is the largest capital project in RMU history.

“OVG is going to be an outstanding partner for Robert Morris, and we are excited to see their team turn the UPMC Events Center into an entertainment destination for the entire Pittsburgh region,” said Jay T. Carson, RMU Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement 

OVG Facilities currently manages and books programming for arenas, convention centers, theaters and amphitheaters all over the U.S. Included in their university portfolio is the Kovalchick Complex on the campus of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, the Watsco Center on the campus of the University of Miami, and Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.