Coleman Coliseum
Coleman Coliseum is a 16,000-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It was constructed in 1968 as "Memorial Coliseum" and replaced Foster Auditorium as the home court of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the gymnastics and volleyball teams.
The arena is located in the campus' "athletic complex", which also includes Sewell-Thomas Stadium, Sam Bailey Track & Field Stadium, the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility, the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility, the football building and practice fields.
The building was designed by the Birmingham architecture firm of Miller, Martin & Lewis. The 16,000 seat arena (15,383 for basketball) has a curved ceiling finished with alternating bands of crimson and white acoustical tiles. The building also contains offices for the University of Alabama Athletics Department and various support facilities such as ticketing offices, equipment and weight rooms, steam baths, training rooms, food service areas, photography studios and locker rooms for staff and athletes. A suite of reception rooms is provided for use by the President of the University.
The building opened for the first time for a tour of the Broadway show "The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd" on January 30, 1968. The men's basketball team hosted the Mississippi State Bulldogs there two night later. On the night of February 7, 1970 Louisiana State's Pete Maravich scored 69 points in a 106-104 loss to Alabama. The arena has hosted NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament sub-regionals twice, in 1975 and 1981, and hosted the regional tournament in 1974.
The seating capacity of the arena was doubled during the 1970s. Among the many major concerts at the Coliseum that decade were three by Elvis Presley and one each by the Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin. President Ronald Reagan stopped at Memorial Coliseum during his 1984 re-election campaign. The facility has also been used for opera and ballet performances, large student and alumni convocations, and commencement ceremonies.
The arena was renamed for Jefferson Coleman in 1988. It underwent a $24 million renovation in 2005. In 2005 the women's volleyball team began playing in the Coleman Auxiliary Volleyball Extension (CAVE). In 2010 Foster Auditorium was renovated and returned to hosting women's basketball and volleyball games in 2011. A new center-hung scoreboard was installed at Coleman Coliseum that year, taking the place of four scoreboards hung on the walls behind the end lines.