The Col Ballroom is a historic building located in the West End of

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

, United States. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and on the

Davenport Register of Historic Properties This is a list of the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in Davenport, Iowa, United States. The historic preservation movement began in the city of Davenport in the mid-1970s with the renovation of several historic structures. A comprehensi ...

as the Saengerfest Halle. (Click on "Historic Preservation Commission" and then click on "Davenport Register of Historic Properties and Local Landmarks.")

History

Saengerfest Halle

Davenport's strong music tradition is due in large part to the influx of German immigrants into the city starting in the late 1840s. They founded numerous music groups in the city before 1900. The groups with longer staying power included: the Liedertafel (founded in 1848), Maennerchor (1851), Strasser's German Union Brass Band (1856), Germania Band (1883), and three other groups founded in the 1850s included Gesang Chor Der Turngemeinde, Deutscher Saengerbund, and Onretti Verein. There were also short-lived music organizations: Germania Saengerchor, Gesang Verein Teutonia, Eintracht Glee Club, Claus Groth Singing Society, Thalia Verein, Harrigaria Maennerchor, and the Davenport Saengerbund. In 1858 the city hosted the third annual Saengerfest, or singer's festival, which drew people from throughout the Mississippi River Valley. The largest music event in Davenport's history took place in 1898 when it hosted the 18th annual Saengerfest. It brought together ten local German singing groups as the United Singers of Davenport. Together they organized and hosted the event. The festival included 1,200 singers from Davenport,

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and

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. The event drew German-Americans from throughout the

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, and

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added extra German operators so as to get news of the festival out over the wires. An estimated 100,000 people attended the four-day event. The festival ended with an outdoor concert at Schuetzen Park that was attended by 12,000 people. Preparations for the festival included building a 4,000-seat auditorium for the event. A holding company built the wood structure for $4,500. After the festival ended the hall was used as a warehouse. In 1906 a second floor was added by new owners and the building was dedicated as a dance hall called The Coliseum. It was destroyed by fire on October 21, 1913.

The Coliseum

In November 1914, the new Coliseum was opened by owner Leo Kerker. The new building is located across West Fourth Street from where the original Saengerfesthalle was located. It was designed by local architects

Clausen & Burrows Frederick George "Fritz" (Friedrich Georg) Clausen (1848–1940) was a Danish-born architect who came to the United States in 1869 and founded an architectural practice in Davenport, Iowa. The firm that he founded, presently named Studio 483 Arch ...

and constructed by local contractor Oelrich & Company. with The building has a steel frame covered with brick. It has an arched roof, and individual tiles across the top of the façade each have a letter that spells out the word “Coliseum”. The structure also features two-story corner pavilions and brick

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s on the side elevations. A sign with the name “The Col Ballroom” hangs over the main entrance. The words are in the shape of a heart. In the early 1990s, the building was extensively renovated both inside and out. Ownership of The Col was passed to Don Wachel. The Quad Cities Mexican American Organization took over ownership in 1995. The building has operated as a ballroom and concert venue ever since. Lee Neece took over the ownership in 2014 and Leigh Macias Reitz in 2015. A back wall of the building has the autographs of performers who played there. Artist who performed at The Col include:

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, the

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, and

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. The Col Ballroom was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 1998, and it was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association hall of fame in 1999. The venue is slated to close as a ballroom and performance venue on October 29, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Col Ballroom, The Buildings and structures completed in 1914 Tourist attractions in Davenport, Iowa Buildings and structures in Davenport, Iowa German-American history Saenger theatres National Register of Historic Places in Davenport, Iowa Davenport Register of Historic Properties Music venues in Iowa Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa