Chicago Coliseum
Encyclopedia
The Chicago Coliseum was the name of a succession of three large indoor arenas in Chicago, Illinois from the 1860s to 1982 that each served as a sports venue, convention center, and exhibition hall over the course of their respective histories. The first Coliseum briefly made an appearance in the late 1860s at State and Washington streets in Chicago’s downtown. The second, at 63rd Street near Stony Island Avenue in the south side's Woodlawn
community, hosted the 1896 Democratic National Convention
, and the third, located at 15th and Wabash on the near south side, hosted the 1904–20 Republican National Convention
s and the 1912 Progressive Party convention
.
The second Coliseum in Woodlawn
had a difficult history. Initial construction began early in 1895 on a 14 acres (56,656 m²) site of Buffalo Bill
’s Wild West Show at the World's Columbian Exposition
, but in August of that year the incomplete structure collapsed, and builders had to start over. The construction of the 300-by-700 foot building entailed the use of 2.5 million pounds of steel, 3.2 million feet of lumber, and 3 million bricks, and was finally completed in June 1896. The building was impressive in size for its day, twice as large as Madison Square Garden
; its interior being supported by 14 massive arches, 70 feet high with a span of 230 feet. There were seven acres of interior floor space. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show opened the facility, and in July it hosted the Democratic national convention, which nominated for the presidency William Jennings Bryan
, who electrified the crowd with his famous “Cross of Gold” speech.
College football teams immediately saw the feasibility of playing indoor games in the Coliseum, and four big games took place:
The Carlisle games represented the first time the Carlisle Indian School played in the Midwest. In 1896, 8,000 fans each attended the Chicago-Michigan and Carlisle-Wisconsin games, and in 1897, 12,000 fans attended the Carlisle-Illinois game and 10,000 the Michigan-Illinois game.
The Coliseum by this time was being hailed as a financial success. Besides football games, the facility hosted bicycle races, the Military and Athletic Carnival of the AAU, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, horse shows, agricultural exhibitions, and commercial trade shows. But all this would soon come to an end. On December 24, around 6:00 PM, during a manufacturer’s carnival and winter fair, while many visitors had left the exhibit for supper, a fire broke out and swept through the building. While hundreds were in the building at the time, they all escaped, and there were no deaths, except for one fireman. The building was completely destroyed, primarily when one of the 14 arches supporting the roof fell over to bring down all the other arches like a row of dominoes. The fire consumed the building within twenty minutes. This massive structure, one of the greatest indoor facilities of the nineteenth century, had a lifespan of only 19 months.
, in 1899. It took the place of the transplanted Libby Prison
, a warehouse turned Civil War
prison that Gunther had shipped, brick by brick, from its original site in Richmond, Virginia
, in 1889, and operated as a Civil War museum.
Gunther preserved part of Libby's facade, leading to the misconception that the Coliseum itself had once housed Union prisoners of war. In fact, the only penitents to "serve time" within the Coliseum's walls were hockey players sentenced to the penalty box.
of the NHL
from 1926–1929 with a seating capacity
of 6,000. It was also the home of the Chicago Cardinals (later renamed Chicago Americans) of the American Hockey Association 1926–27 and the Chicago Shamrocks
of the American Hockey Association 1931–32. In June 1928, fight promoter Paddy Harmon announced plans to construct Chicago Stadium
, with the Black Hawks as the marquee tenants.
As the 1928–29 NHL season approached, the Stadium was not yet ready, and Blackhawks owner Major Frederic McLaughlin
had had a falling out with Harmon. Consequently, the Blackhawks arranged to continue playing at the Coliseum. However, they could only get ice time through January 1929; they played the remainder of their "home" games in Detroit and in Fort Erie, Ontario, across the Niagara River
from Buffalo.
The Hawks were back at the Coliseum as the 1929–30 season opened, but negotiations with the Stadium resumed in the fall of 1929 after Harmon was deposed as head of the Chicago Stadium Corporation. In December 1929, they began play at the Stadium.
In 1932, another dispute led the Hawks to return temporarily to the Coliseum, for their first three home games of the 1932–33 campaign. On November 21, the Black Hawks defeated the Montreal Canadiens
, 2–1, in their final game on Coliseum ice. Canadiens superstar Howie Morenz
was the last player to score an NHL goal at the Coliseum, assisted by Aurel Joliat
and Johnny Gagnon, at 7:06 of the second period.
With the Black Hawks gone, and the Depression
on, use of the arena was limited. In 1935, promoter Leo Seltzer, drawing on the Depression-era popularity of roller skating, conceived the idea of a Roller Derby
. In 1935, he staged the world's first Roller Derby at the arena. The event drew more than 20,000 people.
team. Among the improvements was an increase of the seating capacity to 7000. After playing their first season in the International Amphitheater, the Packers changed their name to the Zephyrs and moved into the Coliseum in 1962. In 1963 they moved to Baltimore
and once again renamed the team, as the Bullets. Today they are known as the Washington Wizards
. The NBA would return to Chicago with the Bulls
expansion team in 1966, but the Bulls opted to use the International Amphitheatre
and then Chicago Stadium
as their home courts, so the Coliseum remained without a major tenant.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Coliseum was a popular venue for professional wrestling
matches, many of which were televised. Wrestlers like Gorgeous George
and Angelo Poffo wrestled a number of matches there.
(SDS), the radical antiwar organization, held their last national convention at the Coliseum in June 1969.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, The Coliseum saw duty as "The Syndrome", a general-admission venue for rock music concerts. Many of the popular bands of the era played there, including The Grateful Dead, Cream
, Grand Funk Railroad
, Steppenwolf
, Jethro Tull
, Jimi Hendrix
, The Doors
, and many others. The venue was also hosting roller derbys and pro wrestling matches.
In 1971, the city shut the building down for fire violations, and the building fell into disuse, finally being demolished in 1982. Part of the Libby facade was given to the Chicago History Museum. The site is now occupied by the Soka Gakkai USA Culture Center. Coliseum Park, across the street at 14th Place and Wabash Ave., commemorates this historic structure.
Woodlawn, Chicago
Woodlawn, located in the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, USA, is one of 77 well defined Chicago community areas. It is bounded by Lake Michigan to the east, 60th Street to the north, Martin Luther King Drive to the west, and, mostly, 67th Street to the south...
community, hosted the 1896 Democratic National Convention
1896 Democratic National Convention
The 1896 Democratic National Convention, held at the Chicago Coliseum from July 7 to July 11, was the scene of William Jennings Bryan's nomination as Democratic presidential candidate for the 1896 U.S. presidential election....
, and the third, located at 15th and Wabash on the near south side, hosted the 1904–20 Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
s and the 1912 Progressive Party convention
Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed after a split in the Republican Party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt....
.
History of Second Coliseum
The first Coliseum hosted horse shows, boxing matches, and circus acts beginning in 1866, and was a somewhat rough place that hosted prizefights and animal acts.The second Coliseum in Woodlawn
Woodlawn, Chicago
Woodlawn, located in the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, USA, is one of 77 well defined Chicago community areas. It is bounded by Lake Michigan to the east, 60th Street to the north, Martin Luther King Drive to the west, and, mostly, 67th Street to the south...
had a difficult history. Initial construction began early in 1895 on a 14 acres (56,656 m²) site of Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
’s Wild West Show at the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, but in August of that year the incomplete structure collapsed, and builders had to start over. The construction of the 300-by-700 foot building entailed the use of 2.5 million pounds of steel, 3.2 million feet of lumber, and 3 million bricks, and was finally completed in June 1896. The building was impressive in size for its day, twice as large as Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
; its interior being supported by 14 massive arches, 70 feet high with a span of 230 feet. There were seven acres of interior floor space. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show opened the facility, and in July it hosted the Democratic national convention, which nominated for the presidency William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
, who electrified the crowd with his famous “Cross of Gold” speech.
College football teams immediately saw the feasibility of playing indoor games in the Coliseum, and four big games took place:
- University of Michigan vs. University of Chicago, Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1896, won by Chicago 7-6.
- Carlisle Indian School vs. University of Wisconsin, December 19, 1896, won by Carlisle, 18-8.
- Carlisle Indian School vs. University of Illinois, November 20, 1897, won by Carlisle, 23-6.
- University of Michigan vs. University of Chicago, Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1897, won by Chicago 21-12.
The Carlisle games represented the first time the Carlisle Indian School played in the Midwest. In 1896, 8,000 fans each attended the Chicago-Michigan and Carlisle-Wisconsin games, and in 1897, 12,000 fans attended the Carlisle-Illinois game and 10,000 the Michigan-Illinois game.
The Coliseum by this time was being hailed as a financial success. Besides football games, the facility hosted bicycle races, the Military and Athletic Carnival of the AAU, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, horse shows, agricultural exhibitions, and commercial trade shows. But all this would soon come to an end. On December 24, around 6:00 PM, during a manufacturer’s carnival and winter fair, while many visitors had left the exhibit for supper, a fire broke out and swept through the building. While hundreds were in the building at the time, they all escaped, and there were no deaths, except for one fireman. The building was completely destroyed, primarily when one of the 14 arches supporting the roof fell over to bring down all the other arches like a row of dominoes. The fire consumed the building within twenty minutes. This massive structure, one of the greatest indoor facilities of the nineteenth century, had a lifespan of only 19 months.
History of the Third Coliseum
The third Coliseum was built on Wabash Avenue, between 14th and 16th Streets, by candy manufacturer Charles F. GuntherCharles F. Gunther
Charles Frederick Gunther was a German-American confectioner and collector. He purchased many of the items now owned by the Chicago History Museum.-Early years:...
, in 1899. It took the place of the transplanted Libby Prison
Libby Prison
Libby Prison was a Confederate Prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. It gained an infamous reputation for the harsh conditions under which prisoners from the Union Army were kept.- Overview :...
, a warehouse turned Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
prison that Gunther had shipped, brick by brick, from its original site in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, in 1889, and operated as a Civil War museum.
Usage by the Blackhawks
The Coliseum hosted the Chicago BlackhawksChicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
of the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
from 1926–1929 with a seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of 6,000. It was also the home of the Chicago Cardinals (later renamed Chicago Americans) of the American Hockey Association 1926–27 and the Chicago Shamrocks
Chicago Shamrocks
The Chicago Shamrocks were an ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois that played 2 seasons in the old American Hockey Association league from 1930 to 1932. They were owned by Hockey Hall of Famer James E...
of the American Hockey Association 1931–32. In June 1928, fight promoter Paddy Harmon announced plans to construct Chicago Stadium
Chicago Stadium
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....
, with the Black Hawks as the marquee tenants.
As the 1928–29 NHL season approached, the Stadium was not yet ready, and Blackhawks owner Major Frederic McLaughlin
Frederic McLaughlin
Frederic McLaughlin was the first owner of the Chicago Black Hawks.Born in Chicago, Illinois, McLaughlin inherited a successful coffee business from his father, who died in 1905. McLaughlin was a graduate of Harvard University and served in the United States Army during World War I...
had had a falling out with Harmon. Consequently, the Blackhawks arranged to continue playing at the Coliseum. However, they could only get ice time through January 1929; they played the remainder of their "home" games in Detroit and in Fort Erie, Ontario, across the Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
from Buffalo.
The Hawks were back at the Coliseum as the 1929–30 season opened, but negotiations with the Stadium resumed in the fall of 1929 after Harmon was deposed as head of the Chicago Stadium Corporation. In December 1929, they began play at the Stadium.
In 1932, another dispute led the Hawks to return temporarily to the Coliseum, for their first three home games of the 1932–33 campaign. On November 21, the Black Hawks defeated the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
, 2–1, in their final game on Coliseum ice. Canadiens superstar Howie Morenz
Howie Morenz
Howard William Morenz was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played centre for three National Hockey League teams: the Montreal Canadiens , the Chicago Black Hawks, and the New York Rangers...
was the last player to score an NHL goal at the Coliseum, assisted by Aurel Joliat
Aurel Joliat
Aurèle Émile "Mighty Atom, Little Giant" Joliat was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens....
and Johnny Gagnon, at 7:06 of the second period.
With the Black Hawks gone, and the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
on, use of the arena was limited. In 1935, promoter Leo Seltzer, drawing on the Depression-era popularity of roller skating, conceived the idea of a Roller Derby
Roller derby
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...
. In 1935, he staged the world's first Roller Derby at the arena. The event drew more than 20,000 people.
Refurbishing for use by the Chicago Zephyrs
The arena was re-furbished for use by the Chicago Packers, an expansion NBANational Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
team. Among the improvements was an increase of the seating capacity to 7000. After playing their first season in the International Amphitheater, the Packers changed their name to the Zephyrs and moved into the Coliseum in 1962. In 1963 they moved to Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
and once again renamed the team, as the Bullets. Today they are known as the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
. The NBA would return to Chicago with the Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
expansion team in 1966, but the Bulls opted to use the International Amphitheatre
International Amphitheatre
The International Amphitheatre was an indoor arena, located in Chicago, Illinois, between 1934 and 1999. It was located on the west side of Halsted Street, at 42nd Street, on the city's south side, adjacent to the Union Stock Yards....
and then Chicago Stadium
Chicago Stadium
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....
as their home courts, so the Coliseum remained without a major tenant.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Coliseum was a popular venue for professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
matches, many of which were televised. Wrestlers like Gorgeous George
Gorgeous George
Gorgeous George, the stage name of George Wagner , American professional wrestler*Robert Kellum, a professional wrestler who wrestled as Gorgeous George III, after his great uncle, George Wagner...
and Angelo Poffo wrestled a number of matches there.
After the Zephyrs' departure
The arena stood for a number of years after the Packers left, serving rock concerts, and protests during the 1968 Democratic Convention. Students for a Democratic SocietyStudents for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
(SDS), the radical antiwar organization, held their last national convention at the Coliseum in June 1969.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, The Coliseum saw duty as "The Syndrome", a general-admission venue for rock music concerts. Many of the popular bands of the era played there, including The Grateful Dead, Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
, Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured constantly to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them...
, Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
, Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, and many others. The venue was also hosting roller derbys and pro wrestling matches.
In 1971, the city shut the building down for fire violations, and the building fell into disuse, finally being demolished in 1982. Part of the Libby facade was given to the Chicago History Museum. The site is now occupied by the Soka Gakkai USA Culture Center. Coliseum Park, across the street at 14th Place and Wabash Ave., commemorates this historic structure.