Allen County War Memorial Coliseum April 2020

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is a 13,000-seat 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

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, near present-day

Johnny Appleseed Park Johnny Appleseed Park, including what was formerly known as Archer Park, is a public park in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is named after the popular-culture nickname of John Chapman, better known as "Johnny Appleseed", a famous American pioneer, who wa ...

. It opened in 1952 with a construction cost of nearly $3 million. The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was originally designed to seat 8,103 for hockey or 10,240 for basketball. Opened in 1989, the Coliseum's $26 million Exposition Center contains 108,000-ft² (0.100-km²) devoted to hosting substantial trade shows and other events with seating for 7,500. In 2002, an extensive $35 million renovation and expansion raised the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum's roof by , thus increasing the arena's

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 ...

to 10,500 for hockey or music concerts and 13,000 for basketball. The structure was designed by A.M. Strauss Architects.

Sports

The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is the current home of the: *

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This team was previously a member of the Central Hockey League, the original Inte ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

ice hockey league, *

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are affiliated with the Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The M ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

, and *

Fort Wayne Derby Girls Fort Wayne Roller Derby (FWRD) is an Open Gender flat track roller derby league based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 2005 originally as Fort Wayne Derby Girls, the league currently consists of a women’s team and an open gender team that co ...

of the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 2 The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 2 (WFTDA Division 2) was the second-highest level of play in women's flat track roller derby from 2013 through 2017. Comprising different structures over that time, in early 2018 the Women's Flat Tra ...

Major events

In basketball, Allen County War Memorial Coliseum has hosted the 1955 and 1956

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

, the

1953 NBA All-Star Game The 1953 NBA All-Star Game was an Exhibition game, exhibition basketball game played on January 13, 1953, at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, home of the Fort Wayne Pistons. The game was the third edition of the National ...

, and the 2014 and 2015 NBA D-League Finals. Memorial Coliseum has also hosted several

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

events, including the 2000, 2001, and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

men's basketball tournaments and the 1988, 1994, and 2000 NCAA Final Four Men's Division I Volleyball Championships. Most recently, the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

hosted the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament Midwest Regional at Memorial Coliseum. The arena has hosted college wrestling tournaments as well as the sectional, regional and semistate championships of the IHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament during the one-class era. The Coliseum was selected in April 2017 as one of the sites for the "Sweet 16" round of the 2020 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship and the "Final Four" of the NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championship in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. The Coliseum has hosted several live events by

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

Related facilities

The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum complex includes the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Exposition Center and

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

, managed in cooperation with PurdueFW.

Exposition Center

Within the same complex as the arena, the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Exposition Center contains 108,000-ft² (0.100-km²) devoted to hosting substantial trade shows, banquets, graduation ceremonies, concerts, truck and tractor pulls, and wrestling matches, with the capability of seating 7,500 guests. When no events are scheduled for the arena, the Exposition Center's capacity can extend to a total of 175,000-ft² (0.162-km²). The Exposition Center was added in the $26 million renovation and expansion of the complex, completed in 1989.

Grounds

The grounds immediately surrounding the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum display the anchor from World War II's battleship. South and east of the central complex is an expansive parking lot, containing 4,500 available parking spaces. To the south and west along the St. Joseph River, lies

, containing the gravesite of

American folklore American folklore encompasses the folklores that have evolved in the present-day United States since Europeans arrived in the 16th century. While it contains much in the way of Native American tradition, it is not wholly identical to the tribal ...

figure John Chapman. To the north and northeast is the PurdueFW campus, especially the portion of the PurdueFW campus located on the western bank of the St. Joseph, on which a 151-room

is located.

Recent construction

In 2013, a $3.96 million renovation and expansion of the 200 Level was completed. The project included upgraded restrooms with LED lighting, no-touch sinks, no-touch toilets, and no-touch urinals, and the addition of two food courts with three new vendors. Other restrooms throughout the Memorial Coliseum were upgraded in 2014. The ribbon cutting ceremony was October 11, 2013. In 2018, a new 4-sided LED scoreboard was installed by Daktronics, Inc. The screens from the previous scoreboard were placed in each corner of the arena.

Other events

Midget car racing

The Coliseum Arena hosted the first ever

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...

race in 1956, a 100-lap midget car race at a 1/10 mile oval. The event continued until 1989, usually with two separate events in early and late January. Since 1998, the Coliseum Exposition Center has hosted the Rumble in Fort Wayne, an annual midget car race. Featuring a 1/6 mile flat oval, it takes place at the end of the year, and after most major racing series seasons have ended. It has allowed drivers from major racing series to participate:

Dave Darland David Lee Darland (born September 4, 1966) is an American auto racing driver from Kokomo, Indiana. He was the 1997 USAC Silver Crown Champion, 1999 USAC National Sprint Car Champion, and 2001 and 2002 USAC National Midget Champion, making him ...

Tracy Hines Tracy Lee Hines (born May 1, 1972) is an American professional stunt driver. He was the 2000 USAC Silver Crown Champion and 2002 USAC National Sprint Car Champion. He currently does not have a full-time ride in NASCAR as he competes for Tony Stew ...

J. J. Yeley Christopher Beltram Hernandez "J. J." Yeley (born October 5, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 13 and 66 cars for MBM Motorsports and part-time in ...

Bryan Clauson Bryan Clauson (June 15, 1989 – August 7, 2016) was an American professional auto racing driver. Best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Bryan was seen more and more co ...

Sammy Swindell Samuel Alan "Slammin Sammy" Swindell (born October 26, 1955) is an American sprint car driver. He is a three-time champion and four-time runner-up in the World of Outlaws series; he has also competed in NASCAR and Champ Car competition and attempt ...

; with

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

, USAC, and

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

champion

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

having the most feature wins at 9.

Politics

On May 1, 2016,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

held a campaign rally ahead of the Indiana Primary election at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Over 12,500 were in attendance. On November 5, 2018, then President Donald Trump returned to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on the eve of the Midterm Election, holding a rally for his administration and to aid

Mike Braun Michael Kent Braun (; born March 24, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Indiana since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented the 63rd district in the India ...

in his efforts to win a seat in the United States Senate. Coliseum officials estimated 20,000 Trump supporters attended the rally.

References

External links

Official site

Visit Fort Wayne

by

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

PurdueFW Mastodons - Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
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