Columbia Coliseum, also known as Columbia Gymnasium, was a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasium on the campus of Columbia University (now the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

) in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. It was designed in 1902 by

Joseph Jacobberger Joseph Jacobberger (March 19, 1869March 18, 1930) was an American architect based in Portland, Oregon. He partnered with Alfred H. Smith in the firm Jacobberger and Smith. Early life Jacobberger was born on March 19, 1869, in Lautenbach, Haut-Rhi ...

to house sports that were traditionally played outdoors, like

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Constructed the following year it was the largest gymnasium in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and possibly the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. Starting in 1905, Columbia Coliseum became the site of an annual statewide

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

event hosted by the university. It was last used in 1927 and has since been demolished.

History

At , Columbia Coliseum was the largest sports venue in

(and possibly the

) when it opened in 1903. At the highest point, the ceilings were . The gymnasium was constructed with

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

es so no support beams would obstruct the playing area. The building featured natural light from glass

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

s in the ceiling. Tracks were on the outside of a dirt playing surface, which was big enough for sports traditionally played outdoors like

. Although indoor baseball (now known as softball) was becoming popularized at the turn of the 20th century, Columbia University organized a traditional baseball team to play indoors, a rarity at the time.

was the building's architect. In 1927, Columbia University again commissioned Joseph Jacobberger (now partnered with Alfred Smith) to design a new gymnasium for the school which became Howard Hall. In an ''

Oregon Daily Journal ''The Oregon Journal'' was Portland, Oregon's daily afternoon newspaper from 1902 to 1982. The ''Journal'' was founded in Portland by C. S. "Sam" Jackson, publisher of Pendleton, Oregon's ''East Oregonian'' newspaper, after a group of Portlander ...

'' article on August 22, 1909 entitled "Columbia University on the Willamette beautiful for situation", the following was written about the coliseum:

Events

In 1903 the student body raised money to start a

and football team to play in the gymnasium. An annual statewide track and field event was hosted at Columbia Coliseum from 1905–1915 and 1917–1922. In 1907 the Columbia University

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team joined the

Portland Interscholastic League The Portland Interscholastic League (PIL) is a high school athletic conference in Portland, Oregon that is a member of the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA). It consists of high schools in the Portland Public Schools (Oregon), Portland Pub ...

. The first few seasons all the league's teams had to play in the Columbia Coliseum since most venues could not accommodate the relatively new sport of basketball. No wood floor was installed for basketball games, meaning the teams would have to play on dirt. The Commercial Club, a group of Portland businessmen, donated $10,000 towards upgrading Columbia Coliseum in 1910. That year, the Portland Colts of the Class-B

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

held their

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

camp at the gymnasium. The coliseum was closed temporarily in 1916 due to significant damage to the structure after snow had built-up on the ceiling, causing part of it to cave in. The roof was repaired and the gymnasium re-opened the following year. The last sport to play in the gymnasium was basketball in 1927. It has since been demolished.

References

{{Sports venues in Portland, Oregon, state=collapsed 1903 establishments in Oregon 1927 disestablishments in Oregon American football venues in Oregon Baseball venues in Oregon Basketball venues in Oregon Defunct college baseball venues in the United States Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Defunct college football venues Demolished sports venues in Oregon Indoor arenas in Oregon Portland Pilots Sports venues completed in 1903 Sports venues in Portland, Oregon Demolished buildings and structures in Portland, Oregon Baseball in Portland, Oregon