Alright, look left and feast your eyes on the Richmond Coliseum-once the big name in Virginia for concerts, sports, and just about anything else that drew a crowd. This hulking concrete ring opened back in 1971, with seats for up to 13,500 fans. And let’s be clear, back then, spending about $16 million-more than $110 million in today’s money-shouted, “We want to do this right… and big.”
Picture that first year: shag carpeting, bell-bottoms, folks lighting up the stands-one way or another. For decades, this place was Richmond’s go-to, hosting everything from fired-up basketball tournaments to the wild drama of wrestling and bull riding. If you ever wondered where Richmonders went to lose their voices cheering, it was probably here.
Sports fans had all sorts of reasons to roll through these doors. The Virginia Squires played on this floor back when the ABA and NBA were still glaring at each other from opposite sides of the playground. College teams from VCU to the MEAC and Colonial Athletic Association called the Coliseum home at one time or another, and NCAA tournaments brought in the nation’s best and brightest players. In 1994, history was made on this court-Charlotte Smith drained a last-second three-pointer, snatching the women’s national title for North Carolina by a single point. Imagine the roar bouncing off those concrete walls…
The coliseum didn’t just live for sports, though. Elvis Presley himself-white jumpsuit and all-worked this stage in April of 1972. If you’ve caught “Elvis on Tour,” you’ve actually seen footage from right in this building. Concerts, monster truck rallies, rodeos, wrestling-this place saw it all. In fact, you could say it’s probably seen more body slams than a bad day in Congress.
Wrestling fans will be nodding right now: the Coliseum was a key stop for both the classic NWA Mid-Atlantic circuit and the star-studded WWE. It’s likely more than a few championship belts changed hands right inside that ring. And of course, professional bull riders let 2,000-pound bulls run wild here for good measure-because, why not?
Politics found a stage here, too. In 2008, more than 13,000 people packed into the coliseum for a Barack Obama rally. The next year, the Republican Party of Virginia’s convention brought a crowd of similar size-proof that this place always knew how to draw a crowd, no matter the party or persuasion.
But even the mightiest arenas eventually face their curtain call. With bigger, shinier venues popping up nearby, the old Coliseum became a little less “must-see” and a little more “remember when?” In February 2019, after a Harlem Globetrotters show took the final bow, the doors were quietly locked. No explosions, just a sigh and the sound of brooms sweeping popcorn into history.
Inside, the place had its quirks-a six-level stack of concrete, an underground tunnel big enough for semis to roll right onto the event floor, and locker rooms that probably still echo with post-game celebrations and, on bad days, the sound of sneakers being chucked across the room.
Now, Richmond wrestles with what comes next. Replacing it has been a slow-moving drama-red tape, debates, plans, scrapped plans. So the Coliseum just waits, a concrete ghost on the edge of downtown, stubbornly refusing to disappear.
Alright, whenever you’re ready, our next stop is the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. Just keep moving southeast for about 6 minutes. Let’s go see how one woman changed the future of American finance.
