Denver Coliseum
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| Location |
4600 Humboldt Street Denver, Colorado 80216 |
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| Coordinates | 39°46′45″N 104°58′15″W / 39.7791279°N 104.9707305°WCoordinates: 39°46′45″N 104°58′15″W / 39.7791279°N 104.9707305°W |
| Owner | City and County of Denver[1] |
| Operator | Division of Theatres and Arenas[1] |
| Capacity |
Concert: 10,500 Basketball: 9,340 Hockey: 8,140[1] |
| Field size | 122,400 square feet |
| Surface | Multi-surface |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 16, 1949[1] |
| Opened | December 1951[1] |
| Construction cost | $3 million[1] |
| Tenants | |
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Denver Coliseum is an indoor arena, owned by the City and County of Denver, operated by its Theatres and Arenas division and is located in Denver, Colorado. The arena holds 10,200 people and was built in 1951.
A wide variety of events are held throughout the year including: Disney on Ice, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, The Denver March Pow Wow, the Denver Coliseum Mineral, Fossil, Gem, and Jewelry Show, Christian events, cheerleading competitions, high school sports playoffs, motivational seminars, Mexican dances, roller derby, music concerts, and other miscellaneous events. The arena played host to the Denver Cutthroats, a Central Hockey League team.
The coliseum is located in Denver's Elyria-Swansea neighborhood. It currently sits atop the stop where the Denver Pacific Railway broke ground on its Cheyenne line in 1868.
Opened in 1952, today the Denver Coliseum is home to the National Western Stock Show and hosts a multitude of other events including: rodeos, ice shows, motor shows, circuses, concerts, dances, exhibits and trade shows.
History
June Haver was the first to perform at the Coliseum, but over the years the Coliseum hosted many celebrities or soon-to-be celebrities in performance: Elvis Presley (twice), The Grateful Dead, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Lovin’ Spoonful, The Monkees, Cream, CSNY, Ike & Tina Turner, The Moody Blues, Santana, The Eagles, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Rammstein and many more. Recently the Coliseum completed an interior make-over to the concourse areas plus the construction of a new box office, new windows, doors and floors.
It was the host of WCW's Spring Stampede in 1998 and the Colorado Wildcats, of the PIFL.
The Coliseum also hosts rodeos during the annual National Western Stock Show.
Three major incidents in the coliseum's history, two of them tragic, have taken place. In 1976 when a planned Marvin Gaye concert was canceled after learning that Gaye was at his home in Los Angeles sleeping, which led to a riot at the coliseum, a series of lawsuits for fraud and deceiving ticket buyers, and giving the media a field day as the top story.[2]
On April 5, 2005, a women's boxing fight took place at the coliseum, after which boxer Becky Zerlentes died of her injuries following a third round knockout loss to Heather Schmitz.[3]
Another would take place on January 30, 2016, when a shooting and stabbing occurred during the Colorado Motorcycle Expo, with one person reported dead and seven injured.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Historic Denver Coliseum Venue Guide" (PDF). Denver Coliseum. 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ↑ "The KDKO Story"
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/06/sports/othersports/female-boxer-injured-in-fight-dies-afterward.html
- ↑ Police: 1 dead, several wounded in shooting, stabbing in Denver CBS News, January 30, 2016