The new wood for the basketball/volleyball court has arrived at the O'Reilly Family Event Center and will be in place by the end of the month, part of an updated photo gallery as construction continues toward the October grand opening of Drury's new $13.5 million, on-campus arena.
The new playing surface arrived late last week and must sit in the arena for two weeks so the wood can become acclimated to room temperature in the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
In other developments since the last photo gallery update two weeks ago, signage has been erected outside the building designating the name of the building as well as William Pitt Court and the CoxHealth sports medicine facility on the lower level, the carpet has been laid in the suites and the new bleachers section is in place in the 3,100-seat facility that will serve this fall as the new home for the Drury volleyball and men's and women's basketball programs.
The first volleyball game in the new facility will be played on Friday, October 8, when Missouri S & T comes to town to play coach Ashleigh Shear's Panthers, while the basketball teams will play their first regular season games in the OFEC on Saturday, November 13, when the Lady Panthers take on Northeastern State at 2 p.m. and the Panthers will play Upper Iowa at 6 p.m.
Drury fans are scheduled to be treated on that gala day to musical concerts from a pair of former DU basketballers - former Lady Panther Liz Moriondo between games and former Panther Matt Stell, lead vocalist for Matt Stell and the Crashers, after the men's contest.
Click here to see the latest photo gallery update for the O'Reilly Family Event Center.