Opened in December 1898, the Coliseum was a field house-type structure with phenomenal acoustics. It hosted everything from famed sopranos to Jazz Age dance bands. Located on the 400 block of West Front Street, the site today is … what else but a surface parking lot! Interestingly, the old Coliseum stood directly across Front Street from the “new” (now 10-years old) U.S. Cellular Coliseum. This photograph dates to the summer of 1938 when Pat Harkins purchased the building and turned it into a 12-lane bowling alley. The old Coliseum was torn down in April 1961.
