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Carolina Coliseum

1968 establishments in South CarolinaBasketball venues in South CarolinaDefunct college basketball venues in the United StatesDefunct indoor ice hockey venues in the United StatesIndoor arenas in South Carolina
South Carolina Gamecocks basketball venuesSports venues completed in 1968
CarolinaColiseum
CarolinaColiseum

Carolina Coliseum is a 12,401-seat multi-purpose arena in Columbia, South Carolina, built in 1968 by the University of South Carolina. The Coliseum was the largest arena in South Carolina at the time of its completion. It was the home of the USC men's and women's basketball teams for many years as well as Columbia's main events venue until 2002, when the Colonial Life Arena (originally named Carolina Center), opened a block away on Greene Street. The Coliseum was once home to the Columbia Inferno hockey team, a franchisee of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), until poor ticket sales caused the Inferno to leave. The team planned to move to another venue, but it did not materialize. The facility is also home to university classrooms with classes held in the lower levels. The high school commencement ceremonies of many high schools in the South Carolina Midlands are held annually in the arena as many school venues are too small for such ceremonies. Prior to the building of the Coliseum, the Gamecocks had played in Carolina Fieldhouse from 1927 until it burned in 1968, and the Carolina Gymnasium (now the Longstreet Theater) prior to that.The Coliseum was the host of the NCAA Basketball Tournament East Regional in 1970. Until 2002, when Greenville's Bon Secours Wellness Arena served as host, it was the only time the tournament was played in South Carolina. The Metro Conference men's basketball tournament was held here in 1989. In 1977, the playing surface was renamed "Frank McGuire Arena" after then head basketball coach Frank McGuire. McGuire had been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame a few weeks earlier. The Coliseum is university owned but it is managed by Comcast Spectacor subsidiary Spectra. A conflict with a Miranda Lambert concert at Colonial Life Arena resulted in the USC Athletics Department moving the January 17, 2013 women's basketball game against Louisiana State University to the Coliseum. This was the first use of the facility as the official backup venue for the USC teams since play began in Colonial Life Center.Officials subsequently announced that no more games will be played in the Coliseum. In the fall of 2014, 3000 seats were removed and the arena floor was converted into two practice courts for the Gamecock men's and women's teams. The old Coliseum playing surface was auctioned in January for $23,215.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Carolina Coliseum (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Carolina Coliseum
Assembly Street, Columbia The Vista

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

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N 33.993611111111 ° E -81.0325 °
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Carolina Coliseum

Assembly Street
29208 Columbia, The Vista
South Carolina, United States
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CarolinaColiseum
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Koger Center for the Arts
Koger Center for the Arts

The Koger Center for the Arts is an arts center located in Columbia, South Carolina, on the University of South Carolina campus. It was built in 1988, and has 2,256 saleable seats. The center is the home of the Columbia City Ballet, the South Carolina Philharmonic, and is also used for other functions such as The State of the State Address, The South Carolina Body Building Championships, The South Carolina Science Fair, Freshman Orientation, The Conductor's Institute, The Columbia Classical Ballet, and the dance concerts for the Columbia City Ballet, Southern Strutt's year-end concert and the university's doctoral hooding ceremonies. The center is named for philanthropists Ira and Nancy Koger, who made a substantial donation for construction of the $15 million center. The descendants of Ambrose Elliott Gonzales, Narciso Gener Gonzales, and William Elliott Gonzales also made a large donation to the center and the Gonzales Hall auditorium was named in acknowledgement of their contribution. The London Philharmonic Orchestra gave the first performance at the Koger Center on Saturday, January 14, 1989. James Taylor from Chapel Hill performed there in 1992 (he's performed there 3x). New Edition performed a benefit concert there on August 26, 2006, which was televised on BET. Ben Folds from Chapel Hill performed there in '06. Canadian Gordon Lightfoot performed there in '09. Comedian Daniel Tosh of Tosh.0 performed there in 2010, and reggae singer Matisyahu performed there in 2011. The Blue Man Group ('12), Art Garfunkel ('14), Weird Al Yankovic ('16), The Beach Boys ('17), Alice Cooper ('17), funk rock group The Time (band) with Sheila E. ('18), Joe Gatto of Impractical Jokers in '22. Riverdance, and Celtic Woman have performed at the Koger Center in recent years.