Charlotte Coliseum

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Charlotte Coliseum
Location	100 Paul Buck Boulevard Charlotte, North Carolina 28266
Broke ground	1986
Opened	1988
Closed	2005
Demolished	first quarter of 2007
Owner	City of Charlotte
Operator	City of Charlotte
Construction cost	$52 million USD
Architect	Odell Associates
Tenants
Charlotte Hornets (NBA) 1988-2002 Charlotte Rage (AFL) 1992-1996 Charlotte Sting (WNBA) 1997-2005 Carolina Cobras (AFL) 2003-2004 Charlotte 49ers (NCAA) 1988-1993 Charlotte Bobcats (NBA) 2004-2005
Capacity
Basketball: 24,042 Hockey: 21,684 Boxing: 23,041 Concerts: 23,780

The Charlotte Coliseum was a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was operated by the Charlotte Coliseum Authority, which also oversees the operation of Cricket Arena, the Charlotte Convention Center, and Ovens Auditorium. It no longer hosts events.

It hosted its final NBA basketball game on October 26, 2005, a preseason game between the Charlotte Bobcats and the Indiana Pacers.

The first concert hosted was Frank Sinatra. The final performance in the Coliseum was by Rick Sammons.

The city of Charlotte sold the property, and the building will be demolished in the first quarter of 2007. A mixed-use development is planned for the space once demolition is complete.

[edit] History

Construction on the Charlotte Coliseum began in 1986 and was opened in 1988, approximately one year after the inception of the Charlotte Hornets. At the time the venue was seen as state-of-the-art, complete with luxury boxes and a large eight-sided video scoreboard. On the morning of the day the Coliseum was to host its first event, the multi-million dollar scoreboard was destroyed when it crashed to the floor. It also destroyed the basketball court it landed on (an alternate floor was brought from Cricket Arena in time for the game that night).

When the Hornets made their NBA debut in November of 1988 the Charlotte Coliseum was the largest venue in the league, seating nearly 24,000 fans. The Hornets would go on to lead the NBA in attendance over the course of their first few seasons playing in "The Hive," but poorly-received decisions made by Hornets team owner George Shinn caused fan support to dwindle, and by the time the Hornets relocated to New Orleans in 2002, the Hornets' attendance had dropped to dead last in the 29-team league. By then the once-sparkling Coliseum was seen by many as outdated and no longer suitable to be the home of a major professional sports team.

The arena was also used for a variety of collegiate basketball events. The Coliseum hosted the 1994 Men's Final Four and the 1996 Women's Final Four (both jointly hosted by Davidson College and UNC Charlotte), in addition to many NCAA Tournament regionals, sub-regionals, eight ACC men's basketball tournaments and the 1989 Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball tournament.

It also hosted the 1991 NBA All-Star Game. It was also the site of WWE Unforgiven 1999 and WWE Judgment Day 2003.

This was actually the second building to use the name "Charlotte Coliseum"; Cricket Arena, located on Independence Boulevard, originally opened as the Coliseum, and it shared the same features as the "new" Coliseum, including its famous domed roof.

[edit] Tenants

Although the Hornets were the primary tenants of the Coliseum, many other teams called The Hive home. The Charlotte Sting of the WNBA began play in the Coliseum upon their inception in 1997, but had moved to Charlotte Bobcats Arena before the Sting folded in early 2007. The Charlotte 49ers of the NCAA played in the Coliseum during their final days in the Sun Belt Conference from 1988 through 1992. Two now-defunct Arena Football League teams played in the Coliseum - the Charlotte Rage (1992-96) and the Carolina Cobras (2003-04).

When the NBA returned to Charlotte in 2004 with the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, they played the 2004-05 season in the Coliseum as the new Charlotte Bobcats Arena was being completed.