Colisée de Québec (later known as Colisée Pepsi) is a defunct multi-purpose
arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
located in
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. It was the home of the
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...
from 1972 to 1995, during their time in the
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
and
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
. It was also the home of the
Quebec Remparts
There have been two junior ice hockey franchises known as the Quebec Remparts (french: Remparts de Québec) that played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The first edition played from 1969 to 1985; the current franchise has pla ...
of the
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...
from 1999 until its closing in 2015. The Colisée hosted the
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament
The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...
annually in February until its closing in 2015, with almost 2,300 young hockey players from 16 countries participating annually.
History
The
barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
arena was originally built in 1949, seating 10,034, to replace a building on the same site that had burned down a year earlier. Built by architects
Rinfret and Bouchard with designs drawn up by
Robert Blatter
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
and F. Caron, the arena was a mix of
International Style exterior and
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
interior. It was known as "The House that Béliveau Built", as it was often filled to capacity in its early years to watch
Jean Béliveau
Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau (August 31, 1931 – December 2, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played parts of 20 seasons with the National Hockey League's (NHL) Montreal Canadiens from 1950 to 1971. Inducted into the ...
star for the
Quebec Aces before he moved up to the NHL and the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
. Two decades later, sellout crowds came to see
Guy Lafleur
Guy Damien Lafleur (September 20, 1951 – April 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six c ...
as a member of the
Quebec Remparts
There have been two junior ice hockey franchises known as the Quebec Remparts (french: Remparts de Québec) that played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The first edition played from 1969 to 1985; the current franchise has pla ...
, before he too would join the Canadiens.
The Colisée served as the host facility of the
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament
The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...
from 1960 to 2015, after the tournament originated at the
Quebec Arena
Quebec Arena was an indoor ice hockey arena in Quebec City, Quebec. It was built in 1913 and was the home of the Quebec Bulldogs of the NHA and NHL until the team moved to Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provin ...
in
Parc Victoria. It was promoted by
Gérard Bolduc
Gérard Bolduc (August 3, 1906 – March 8, 1993) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He co-founded the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament in 1960, served as president of the tournament for 15 years, and sought to bring interna ...
and
Paul Dumont
Paul Dumont (June 15, 1920 – April 9, 2008) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He was associated with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from its founding in 1969 to 1984. He served as the general manager of the Quebec Rempar ...
, who also had connections to the Quebec Remparts.
Le Colisée underwent major renovations in 1980. The old entrance was taken down and replaced with a massive glass facade, and the
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
was increased to 15,750 to meet
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
standards of that era after the Nordiques made the jump from the
WHA to the NHL.
PepsiCo bought the naming rights on November 18, 1999, and its final capacity was 15,176. Coincidentally, the former
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...
, now known as the
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
, currently play at what was formerly known as Pepsi Center (now
Ball Arena
Ball Arena (formerly known as Pepsi Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado. It is situated at Speer Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in downtown Denver, and is served by two nearby exits off Interstate 25. A lig ...
) in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
The
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...
played the final five "home" games of the
1967-68 season at the Colisée, after the roof blew off their home arena, the
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
.
The arena hosted the
1971 Memorial Cup championship series, in which the Remparts defeated the
Edmonton Oil Kings
The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers ...
two games to none. Since the championship switched to a tournament format, the Coliseum has hosted it in
1991 and
2003 & 2015. Internationally, the first game of the
1974 Summit Series between
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
WHA all-stars and the
Soviet national team was played at the Coliseum, as were one game in each of the
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
and
1991 Canada Cups. The arena co-hosted the 1978
IIHF World U20 Championship
The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...
with Montreal and also co-hosted, along with Halifax, the
2008 IIHF World Championships.
Rendez-vous '87
Rendez-vous '87 was a two-game international ice hockey series of games between the Soviet Union national ice hockey team and a team of All-Stars from the National Hockey League, held in Quebec City. It replaced the NHL's All-Star festivities ...
, a two-game series between the
NHL All-Stars and the Soviet national team, was another highlight in the building's history. Colisée Pepsi has also hosted many big concerts, as well as professional wrestling events presented by
Canadian Athletic Promotions,
All-Star Wrestling
All Star Wrestling (ASW) is a British professional wrestling promotion operated by Brian Dixon and based in Birkenhead, England. Founded as Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead in October 1970, it has also been known over the years as All Star P ...
,
Grand Prix Wrestling
Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) is a professional wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has recently finished the 2013 Rising Sun In The Maritimes Tour. Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling tours parts of New Brunswick, P ...
,
Lutte Internationale
Lutte Internationale (; "International Wrestling") was a professional wrestling promotion based in Montreal from 1980 until 1987. The promotion was founded by Frank Valois, André the Giant and Gino Brito as Promotions Varoussac (VAlois, ROUSSim ...
and the
WWF/WWE.
Quebec City has entertained several proposals in recent years to return NHL ice hockey to the city; prior to the completion of
Centre Vidéotron, most of these proposals envisioned using the Colisée as a temporary home while the new arena was built next to the existing facility. On October 10, 2009, Quebec City newspapers such as ''
Le Soleil
Le Soleil ("The Sun") is the name of several newspapers:
* ''Le Soleil'' (Quebec), a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1896
* ''Le Soleil'' (French newspaper), a defunct daily newspaper based in Paris fro ...
'' reported that negotiations were held between the city and the NHL concerning the possibility and pertinence of relocating or creating an NHL franchise into the city.
Skatemania 2014 is held on October 25, 2014. The show handling the arts and figure skating produced by Alain Goldberg featuring
Sylvain Cossette,
Andrée Watters, Marc Hervieux,
Jeanick Fournier
Jeanick Fournier is a Canadian singer from Saguenay, Quebec, most noted as the winner of the second season of ''Canada's Got Talent''.
Fournier, who works as a palliative care attendant in Saguenay and is the adoptive mother of two children w ...
and also Éléonore Lagacé, Andréanne Martin and Liana Bureau from ''
La Voix
''La Voix'' is a francophone Canadian reality talent show as part of the international television series franchise ''The Voice'', based on the original Dutch version of the program created by John de Mol. The series is part of ''The Voice' ...
''. Participating athletes among others:
Joannie Rochette
Joannie Rochette (born January 13, 1986) is a Canadian physician and retired competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic bronze medallist, the 2009 World silver medallist, the 2008 and 2009 Four Continents silver medallist, the 2004 G ...
,
Patrick Chan
Patrick Lewis Wai–Kuan Chan (born December 31, 1990) is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. He is a 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, 2014 Olympic silver medallist in the men's and team events, a three–time World ch ...
,
Shawn Sawyer.
Former Nordiques owner and
Canadian Olympic Committee
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; french: Comité olympique canadien) is a private, non-profit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization ( ...
president
Marcel Aubut
Marcel Aubut, (born January 5, 1948) is a Canadian lawyer, former president of the Canadian Olympic Committee and former president and Chief Executive Officer of the Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a board member of ma ...
originally said that there were no plans to demolish the Colisée Pepsi even if a new arena was built. Aubut mentioned a prospective future Winter Olympics bid among other justifications for maintaining the existing arena. As part of the agreement constructing the new arena, an additional $7 million was set aside for renovating the Colisée, should the city have landed a
potential National Hockey League expansion
The National Hockey League (NHL) has undergone several rounds of expansion and other organizational changes during its history to reach its current thirty-two teams: twenty-five in the United States, and seven in Canada. The newest additions to th ...
franchise before the new arena was completed in 2015.
Videotron Centre
Vidéotron Centre (French: ''Centre Vidéotron'') is an indoor arena in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The 18,259-seat arena replaced Colisée Pepsi as Quebec City's primary venue for indoor events. The arena is primarily used for ice hockey, ser ...
opened on September 8, 2015. The Colisée's final event was a
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
concert on September 14, 2015 for the
Lords of Summer Tour
The Lords of Summer Tour was a concert tour by American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Metallica in support of their single "Lords of Summer", which was released on March 19, 2014.
Set list
Setlist from Quebec City, Canada (September 16 ...
; two days later, the band would also play the first concert at Videotron Centre. The Colisée was then closed to the public, with minimal
operations and maintenance
The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential install ...
since.
In September 2019, the Colisée's neon sign was removed pending an expected demolition. ExpoCité announced plans to sell 4,000 of the arena's wooden seats to the public on the weekend of October 19 and 20, 2019, while the remaining 11,000 plastic seats would be given to municipalities, schools and other institutions. The city planned to start demolition by summer 2020 and finish by December 18, 2020. It was announced in 2021 that demolition would not proceed, as the building had been leased to be used as storage space. The lease runs until September 2023.
Seating capacity
The
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
for hockey has gone as follows:
*10,034 (1949-1973)
*10,004 (1973-1976)
*10,012 (1976-1981)
*15,250 (1981-1984)
*15,434 (1984-1987)
*15,399 (1987-2009)
*15,176 (2009–2015)
Image gallery
Image:Tableaucolisé.JPG, The scoreboard in 2007
Image:Intérieurcolisée.JPG, Interior of the Colisée seen from the centre
Image:Intérieurcolisée2.JPG, Interior of the Colisée taken on December 7, 2008
File:Remparts vs. Voltigeurs 2013-10-02.jpg, Interior of the Colisée during a hockey game
References
External links
Coliseum historyColiseum timelinedetails on Hockeyarenas.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colisee Pepsi
Defunct indoor arenas in Canada
Indoor ice hockey venues in Quebec
Defunct National Hockey League venues
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League arenas
Sports venues in Quebec City
World Hockey Association venues
Music venues in Quebec
Quebec Aces
Quebec Citadelles
Quebec Nordiques
Quebec Remparts
Sports venues completed in 1949
1949 establishments in Quebec