At the time the venue was seen as state-of-the-art, complete with luxury boxes and a large eight-sided video scoreboard.
The day after the dedication, the United States olympic basketball team was scheduled to play an exhibition game at the Coliseum. While preparing for the event, the multi-million dollar scoreboard was being repositioned when it struck the ceiling and crashed to the floor, destroying both it and the basketball court it landed on (an alternate floor was brought from Independence Arena in time for the game that night).
This was actually the second building to use the name "Charlotte Coliseum"; Bojangles' Coliseum, located on Independence Boulevard, originally opened as the Coliseum, and it shared the same features as the "new" Coliseum, including its famous domed roof.
The NBA awarded owner George Shinn an expansion franchise, giving the arena a major tenant. His team lost its first game by 40 points -- and received a standing ovation.
In 2002 the Hornets played their final game in Charlotte in front of nearly 11,000 empty seats -- in the second round of the playoffs. In 2005 the building was shuttered.
A facility that hosted 364 consecutive NBA sellouts, the 1994 Final Four, numerous concerts and even a speech by Mother Teresa was reduced to rubble, making way for an office park.
The city of Charlotte sold the property, and the building was demolished via implosion on June 3, 2007.
Jerry performed here on
12/10/71 Grateful Dead
5/3/79 Grateful Dead
10/5/84 Grateful Dead
10/22/89 Grateful Dead
10/23/89 Grateful Dead
6/11/91 Grateful Dead
6/12/91 Grateful Dead
11/10/91 Jerry Garcia Band
6/17/92 Grateful Dead
6/18/92 Grateful Dead
3/22/95 Grateful Dead
3/23/95 Grateful Dead
3/24/95 Grateful Dead
1.)^Last of its kind: Charlotte Coliseum to be demolished Sunday, updated June 1, 2007, http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2889956
No comments:
Post a Comment