The Washington Coliseum - The forgotten landmark

♪♪♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: In 1931, Migiel "Mike" Uline moved to Washington, D.C. from Ohio at the age of 57 Constructing an ice plant in the 1000 block of 3rd Street Northeast A shrewd businessman in the ice industry Uline, a Dutch Native, built a small ice empire from a horse and wagon operation to over 30 ice plants throughout Ohio He also held 69 pantents for devices in the ice industry. By the late 1930s, having established himself in the District Uline partnered with other businessmen with the idea of creating an ice arena Iceskating had taken off as a sport Justine Christianson: There was Riverside Stadium and the Chevy Chase Ice Palace which were hugely popular around the 1939, 1940 era There was ice hockey, skating had all become extremely popular in D.C. and because he was sort of the consumate businessman I think he saw an opportunity to increase his business and profits Narrator: A 1939 Washington Post Editorial touted: "Nothing is recent sports history has been more impressive than the alacrity and enthusiasm with which Washingtonians have taken to skates. A year ago, the city had no rink and skaters could only pray, none too hopefully, for a good long freeze Now there is both an indoor and outdoor rink each evidently popular everything seems to auger well for a hockey team worthy to carry the brand new colors of the Capitol City." After his business partners backed out of the deal, Uline decided to finance the project on his own borrowing money against his business. On March 11, 1940, construction began on the new $700,000 arena Justin Christianson: Rather than having to use columns for support, which you obviously don't want in an arena. You need a large, clear space. It used this new, novel technological system called the Zeiss-Dywidag system, which had been invented in Germany. And it was important because it used concrete so there wasn't a lot of steel needed, which cut down on costs And it would create this concrete shell roof You could have either external or interior concrete ribs, which helped support it. They built it using wood forms. So it was pretty easy for construction Jacks would raise up the form. They would pour the concrete. It would set They would drop the form back down roll it along to the next section, lift it up and pour the next So it was a mixture of technology and economy which I think was attactive to Uline. Narrator: Based on the design of Hershey Arena Uline's arena spanned 88 ft by 218 ft making it one of the largest arenas in the eastern United States. ♪♪ On Janurary 28, 1941 the arena opened with the Ice Capades to a packed crowd of 3,000 specators. The last minute constuction leading up to the event though left for a dusty environment as well as subpar ice surfaces for the skaters causing them to stuggle through the performance. Despite the rough start, the Ice Capades would be an arena staple for the next 30 years. Corresponding with the opening, the American Hockey League granted D.C. a franchise hockey team, which would make the newly completed Uline Arena its home. Justine Christianson: Hockey was one of the major events even though Riverside Stadium had a hockey team in a different league But he still decided we need more hockey there's obviously a market for it Narrator: Hoping to Compete against Riverside Stadium's team for spectators, the team was initially named the Washington Ulines but would eventually settle on the Lions. Playing two seasons, the team disbaned during World War II. Later incarnations of the team would play in the Eastern Hockey League winning back-to-back championships in 1954 and 55. Later, a new franchise would be renamed the Washington Presidents eventually to be disbanded by 1960,ending the arena's reign of professional hockey. Narrator: Uline Also got into the business of basketball since the ice could be easily covered and converted to a court. He acquired a Basketball Association of America franchise in 1946 naming it the Washington Capitols. Brett Abrams: The Washington Capitols were put together mostly by a native of Brooklyn who came down to Washington for school named Red Auerbach, who is a famous hall of fame basketball general manager and coach. He was a coach and general manager here And he put together a lot of his Navy friends to be on the first team And they were very succesful. They were one of the best teams in the league and in their third season they made it to the Basketball Association Finals and they played the Minneapolis Lakers of George Mikan. And had they not had a few of the injuries they had, they may have even won that series. Raphael Mazzone: Uline saw Red Auerbach when he was coaching George Preston Marshall's basketball team It was sort of a traveling team they did. He was successful for a short period of time. He was only on one-year contracts. They would go to the finals, the playoffs. He would make shrewd acquisitions in the offseason. Lost in the finals once. Lost in the conference finals once. And then eventually, when he resigned, they didn't want to pay him so they let one of their players become a player coach And Red Auerbach left and went on to other bigger and better success with the Boston Celtics. Narrator: In 1950, the year after Auerbach's resignation the Washington Capitols merged into the NBA. Brett Abrams: We all know about the story of Jackie Robinson and the integration of of Major League Baseball in 1947. Professional basketball was a solely white league as well. And in 1950, the Washington Capitols and New York Knicks among others drafted out of college some potential players who happen to be African-American. But the first African-American player to play in the NBA was a forward named Earl Lloyd and he played for the Washington Capitols on Halloween night in 1950. The next year Uline disbanded the team. The arena would only see basketball again in short spurts. Nearly a decade later, the Washington Tapers played a season in 1960. In 1969, the American Basketball Association team the Washington Caps played at the arena for a short-lived season before moving on to Richmond. With the successful Baltimore Bullets, owned by Abe Pollin looking to move into a new arena in the district it would spell the end of professional basketball at Uline. ♪♪♪ Narrator: From its beginning, Uline Arena played a national role in the battle for integration. At its opening, the arena was segregated, allowing blacks to only attend boxing events. It became scenes of for boycott through the 1940s. Justine Christianson: Uline's public statements about this was that he let promoters decide what was going to be the policy as far as if it was a segregated or integrated event. but he was generally the promoter and it was generally segregated. He seems to have bought into the fear of having an African-American male audience looking at white women. if they were performing in the Ice Capades for example. He found that distasteful. Raphael Mazzone: Just like anything else in the area there was segregation blacks were not allowed to come in for basketball or hockey but they were for boxing. At the time, Uline was following the model of the rest of the city. There was policies and procedures that he set up that he was abiding by because he was a businessman. When eventually, as the times started to change in the city in the late 40s, he felt pressure from outside to desegregate. Narrator: Those boycotts and protests that took place in the late 40s led by Fairfax NAACP founder E.B. Henderson were successful in drawing negative publicity as well as causing economic difficulties for the arena. In 1948, Uline abandoned his segregation policy opening up arena events to all races. Newscaster: In Washington, Joe Louis steps back inside the ropes to make his bow as a wrestler Cowboy Rocky Lee is his opponent, a 23-stone hunk of man with a carefully nurtured reputation as a meanie. There's all the usual clawing and pawing spiced with some authentic Louis action. ♪♪ Narrator: For two decades, Uline arena played host to a wide range of entertainment. Dances, boxing, wrestling rodeos, roller derby and circuses. graced the floor of that arena for Washingtonians. Vincent Gray: The arena was at 3rd and M Streets I remember it well. It was really the only public place like that in the entire area. In addition to having basketball and hockey there, they had shows. But they also had, which a lot of people don't remember they had public ice skating there as well. It was where I learned how to ice skate. Naomi Banks: I moved here in 1954. It was an integrated neighborhood. Most of my neighbors were white. Most of them that lived across the street were the people that worked here at the Coliseum. Most of the people that worked here I knew, I grew up with some of the referees, the people that taught ice skating here they had an ice skating rink. They also had the roller derby that use to come here. Wrestling was a big thing at one time here at the Washington Coliseum They had a thing called the Afro Home Cooking Show every year they would have that sponsored by a newspaper called The Afro. They had a thing called The Cotton Ball thats when blacks would get dressed up in their finest and they would have a big dance here. Harlem Globetrotters, Stevie Wonder I think James Brown was here once They had quite a few people that were here. Justine Christianson: He just wanted the stadium booked because that would obviously result in profits. So there was some strange and incompatible uses They did rodeos, they had Roy Rogers and Trigger There was evidently a number of problems with that performance. because they had cold ice under the clay they threw down for the floor so there was a lot of slipping around [laugher] And something bizzare called midget car races which they put in a track and they would have car racing in an enclosed arena with little ventilation, which also seemed to be an odd choice but ultimately he wanted to keep the arena booked and make money Narrator: In 1958, Migiel Uline died. leaving the majority of his estate including the arena to his daughters After attempting to run operations his daughter Jean Paul Pratt ended up selling the area to businessman Harry Lynn for the price of $1 million. Lynn went to work with renovations costing $100,000 that included parking for 500 additional cars The arena also received a new name to distance itself from past negative publicity A new marquee featuring a minature Washington Monument was erected with the name Washington Coliseum ♪♪♪ On February 11, 1964, a very snowy day for Washington, four boys from Liverpool England made their way to town by train from New York City After appearing on the famed Ed Sullivan Show Paul, George, John and Ringo stepped off a train at Union Station to much fanfare ♪♪♪ Mike Mitchell: I was an 18-year-old professional photographer When I heard the music, I said to myself, I wonder if I can go I wonder if can be a part of that, I wonder if I could get press credentials to cover it. So I went to a magazine that I freelanced for and they got me a little red badge that allowed me to be in with the press corps. Naomi Banks: The most exciting thing was when The Beatles showed up. That was a big thing. Kids came from all over. They camped out in the freezing cold My neighbor that ran the shows and took care of everything in here Mr. Miller and Mr. Dove were real good friends of ours, the kids in the neighborhood And he knew I wanted to kind of come in here and he said OK, I'll let you in but you have to stand over here in this corner beside this curtain. And I told him I wouldn't be long But that's how I ended up in the Coliseum Lynn was actually was afraid the concert wasn't going to sell out so he added The Chiffons and Tommy Roe as an opening act. They each were going to sing two songs and then The Beatles came on and did their twelve. Again you are having an event in a place that wasn't ever desgined for that so they just had to erect a make-shift stage in the center of the arena and everybody sort of ringed around them and they had people sitting in the stands obviously. Mike Mitchell: And then, all of a sudden, The Beatles came out through the crowd, like a boxer would come through the arena. And took the stage. And broke right into Roll Over Beethoven Naomi Banks: Screaming wasn't word [laughter] As soon as they opened the doors the doors were opened for The Beatles they got to screaming and hollering. It was an exciting day for kids in that era. It's something that I will always remember and keep close to, dear to my heart because it was exciting then to have somebody from another country in the United States for the first time and we got to see them before anybody else got to see them. Mike Mitchell: That concert was only 35 minutes long as it turns out. It didn't feel like that. It was so intense. The energy level was so high. I was just completely adrenalized for that whole period of time. Looking, looking, looking, looking, looking, looking. And being pummeled with this incredible music, which I could hear being right next to the stage. It was louder than anything I've ever heard. So you are dealing with that kind of assault at the same time. Yeah it was intense. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Narrator: For the next 20 years, there would be a slow decline for the arena. With changes in transportation and city demographics, Lynn would end up selling the venue to Publishers Co. Inc. in 1969. Just a year before, the H Street neighborhood, just a few blocks away from the Coliseum, saw violence and destruction during the Riots of 1968. Competition in the District would increase further for the Coliseum with the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971 and then the Capital Centre in 1973. With nearly three-times the capacity the Capital Centre would draw crowds away from the city and out into suburban Maryland. Brett Abrams: So Abe Pollin, after trying to find an arena in D.C. for his Baltimore Bullets team, which he was ready to move, built his own areana out in Landover, MD known as the Capital Centre And that is about the end of the Washington Coliseum's real life as an arena. This areana was very hard for people to get to a lot of people had left the ciy and so it wasn't as attractive for them to come into the city to see shows. it was a small arena and it was behind the times with the kind of techonlogy that it had. Narrator: The Washington Coliseum would continue to host concerts and other events throughout the 70s and 80s. A sound that was authentically D.C. was growing in popularity in the city. Go-go music a mixture of funk, R&B and hip hop catered to shows in large dance halls. And the Washington Coliseum was perfect with its low rental fee and inner city location. The Coliseum would see a series of sales starting in 1986 with Takoma Park Christian Faith Center buying the arena with big plans After spending $17.5 million on rennovations they opened the Miracle Faith Center that included a convention space a chapel and radio and television studios But maintenance fees proved to be too much for the church And they sold the arena in 1996 to LG Industries. The new company would turn the once vibrant venue into a trash transfer station. And after battles with neighborhood advocates, the site was eventually shut down. In 2003, the company would apply for a demolition permit and the DC Preservation League would step in and place the site on its most endangered places for 2003. In 2004 Douglas Development bought the property. In order to keep the building from being demolished, the DC Preservation League workd to get the building added to the DC Inventory of Historic Sites in 2006 and the to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Future plans for the arena, which will be call The Coliseum, hope to bring 50,000 sq ft of retail and 150,000 sq ft of office space while still maintaining the historic facade of the building. ♪♪♪ Justine Christianson: I think that the arena's role in D.C. history is not only as one of the early sports and cultural facilities in town, but also, I think its role in integration is highly significant. It was an example of a place where people protested and boycotted and were able to affect change. Vincent Gray: It has such iconic value the history of what went on there. Again, the sporting events that were conducted there. The fact that we had shows there which always will be highlighted by The Beatles having performed there. So it would be just criminal to have to tear that building down. I'm glad it is being preserved and being preserved for a modern day purpose but the building itself will still be there. Uline Arena, Washington Coliseum is very important to D.C.'s history. It is a location where a lot of great basketball players and basketball games were played. It is an example of the battle that took place to desegregate public accomidations and to integrate racially integrate professional sports leagues. And then it is one of the few remaining examples of mid-century arena architecture that exists in the United States at this point. ♪♪♪