Ohio Stadium is preparing for the winter weather ahead of Saturday’s game

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — As the Buckeyes prepare to host the latest game in program history, the campus is taking proactive measures to ensure the safety and comfort of fans during Saturday’s game.

Executive Associate Athletic Director Mike Penner said preparations are underway to treat parking lots, roads and sidewalks with snowmelt to help fans get safely from parking areas to the stadium.

“When they come into the stadium, we want them to be safe, too,” Penner said. “On Friday we will pre-treat the walkways and concourse to make sure it’s good to go. We’ll come back on Saturday and look for areas that may have thawed and are still a little slippery.”

While some stadiums have heated fields, Penner noted that Ohio Stadium does not.

“There are some approaches where you can put a tarp over the field and then blow heat under it. We don’t think we’re going to use that approach,” he said. “We think right now, because the temperatures have been above freezing all week long, we think the field will remain in good shape, but we’ll continue to monitor it.”

The stadium gets some good practice when they host the Stadium Series, when the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Detroit Red Wings on March 1, which involves covering the field and setting up ice and glass. Penner explained that this is a “completely different operation.”

Work is underway to install heat trace systems to prevent pipes from freezing. “Heat traces are like an electrical current attached to the pipes that keeps the pipe warm enough so it doesn’t freeze,” Penner said. “Knowing that we would potentially have a playoff game and that we have a hockey game, we continue to add heat trails to all of our pipes.”

Penner feels optimistic about stadium preparations/

“We feel like we’re in a really comfortable position for the game on Saturday,” Penner added. “We’re working towards permanent heat in all the concession stands. We’re not quite there yet.”

Additional plumbers have been hired to address any potential plumbing issues and efforts are underway to ensure the concession stands remain heated.

The Buckeyes start against the Volunteers at 8 p.m. You can watch the match on ABC 6.