{{short description|Indoor arena in Lincoln, Nebraska}} {{use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} {{infobox venue | logo_image = 150px | image = Coliseum - Lee and Helene Sapp Recreation Facility - Fieldhouse - University of Nebraska Lincoln (52841962237).jpg | image_caption = The Coliseum in 2023 | name = Nebraska Coliseum | former_names = | address = 1350 Vine Street <br> Lincoln, Nebraska | coordinates = {{coord|40|49|17|N|96|42|9|W|display=inline,title}} | broke_ground = 1924 | opened = {{start date and age|1926|2|6}} | renovated = 1989{{ndash}}1992 | closed = 2013 | architect = Ellery L. Davis <br> Walter Wilson | cost = $435,000 (${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|435000|1923}}}} in {{inflation-year|US}} {{inflation-fn|US}}) | owner = University of Nebraska–Lincoln | operator = University of Nebraska–Lincoln | tenants = '''Nebraska Cornhuskers''' (NCAA) <br> Men's basketball (1926–1976)<br>Women's basketball (1975–1976) <br> Volleyball (1975–1990, 1992–2013) <br> Wrestling (1942–1990, 1992–2013) | seating_capacity = 8,000 {{small|(1926–1991)}} <br> 4,030 {{small|(1991–2013)}} }}
The '''Nebraska Coliseum''' ('''NU Coliseum''') is an arena on the campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. It most notably served as the home venue of the school's men's basketball and volleyball teams. Since volleyball was moved to the larger Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2013, the Coliseum has been primarily used for student recreation.
==History== ===Planning and construction=== Shortly after the end of World War I, the University of Nebraska began planning a million-dollar stadium complex that included a gymnasium and museum.<ref name=Stadium>{{cite magazine|url=https://history.nebraska.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/doc_publications_NH1998MemorialStad.pdf|title=Give 'Till It Hurts': Financing Memorial Stadium|author=Michele Fagan|magazine=History Nebraska|volume=79|pages=179–191|year=1998|access-date=11 February 2015}}</ref> The state, which initially set aside $250,000, was forced to back out of its commitment during an agricultural depression through the early 1920s, and the project was scaled back to just a football stadium.
Planning for a standalone arena, to be located just northeast of Memorial Stadium, began the year after the stadium's completion at the suggestion of Athletic Board member John Selleck.<ref name=Closed>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/after-years-nebraska-coliseum-closes-its-doors/article_af884744-70c9-11e2-b09f-0019bb30f31a.html|title=After 87 years, Nebraska Coliseum closes its doors|author=Zach Siegler|publisher=The Daily Nebraskan|date=7 February 2013|access-date=3 March 2025}}</ref> It was designed by architects Ellery L. Davis and Walter Wilson, both university alumni who had worked on several campus buildings, including Memorial Stadium.
The Nebraska Coliseum, funded using gate receipt revenue from 1923 football games, broke ground in 1924 and opened in early 1926 to serve as the home venue of Nebraska's indoor sports programs.<ref name="Closed2">{{cite web |author=Zach Siegler |date=7 February 2013 |title=After 87 years, Nebraska Coliseum closes its doors |url=http://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/after-years-nebraska-coliseum-closes-its-doors/article_af884744-70c9-11e2-b09f-0019bb30f31a.html |access-date=3 March 2025 |publisher=The Daily Nebraskan}}</ref> The new arena featured a Roman-style façade at its main entrance, with ten columns overlooking Bessey Hall. It was constructed using Indiana limestene with a red brick exterior, matching most surrounding buildings.<ref name="Historic2">{{cite web |title=Coliseum |url=https://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=19 |access-date=12 July 2025 |website=UNL Historic Buildings}}</ref>
===Renovation=== In 1987, the university announced a renovation of the Coliseum alongside plans for an adjacent recreation center.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbus-telegram-nu-officials-revis/177619996/|title=NU officials revise proposal for rec center, indoor football field|newspaper=Columbus Telegram|date=1 March 1987|access-date=28 July 2025|page=6}}</ref> Renovations included expanding and repairing the swimming pool, which was condemned in 1986, adding additional offices, and installing an overhead jogging track in the main arena.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/omaha-world-herald-work-begins-on-2nd-ph/177620156/|title=Work Begins On 2nd Phase Of UNL Center|newspaper=Omaha World-Herald|date=6 May 1988|access-date=28 July 2025|page=38}}</ref> Construction began in 1989 and was completed in 1992.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lincoln-journal-star-nu-unveils-volleyba/177620453/|title=NU unveils volleyball mecca|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|date=11 August 1992|access-date=28 July 2025|page=11}}</ref>
===Closure=== Since volleyball vacated the arena in 2013, it is no longer the primary home venue for any varsity athletic programs, though it was used as a practice facility and office space by Nebraska's gymnastics teams until the purpose-built Francis Allen Training Center opened in April 2020. It was incorporated into the university's Campus Recreation Center and is attached to Cook Pavilion.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/gymnastics/proposed-million-training-facility-for-nu-gymnastics-to-go-before/article_6c9a6c4b-3e2c-520e-a912-e8b7dd013d64.html|title=Proposed $14 million training facility for NU gymnastics to go before Board of Regents|author=Clark Grell|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|date=4 August 2017|access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref>
==Basketball== Nebraska hosted its first event at the unfinished arena on February 6, 1926, a basketball game against Kansas. A crowd of 5,000, the largest for a basketball game in school history at the time, packed into temporary bleachers to see a 25–14 Jayhawks victory.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lincoln-star-1926-coliseum-dedicatio/4182163/|title=Husker cagers bow to Kansas|newspaper=The Lincoln Star|date=7 February 1926|access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref> When construction was completed months later, the Coliseum could hold 8,000 spectators.
Nebraska's basketball program was generally unsuccessful in its fifty years at the Coliseum, though a nine-day stretch in 1958 produced two of the most memorable games in school history, wins over Wilt Chamberlain-led Kansas and top-ranked Kansas State.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://omaha.com/sports/college/huskers/plus/how-two-magical-weeks-in-1958-made-nebraska-a-cherished-place-for-fred-hoibergs-family/article_5076ab9b-7032-5aaa-8ab8-1f8a9a8d31fc.html|title=How two magical weeks in 1958 made Nebraska a cherished place for Fred Hoiberg's family|author=Chris Heady|publisher=Omaha World-Herald|date=1 April 2019|access-date=14 March 2025}}</ref> Nebraska moved to the NU Sports Complex (later dedicated as the Bob Devaney Sports Center) when it was completed in 1976.
Nebraska's women's team played its first varsity season in 1975–76 at the Coliseum before also moving to the NU Sports Complex, and later to West Haymarket Arena. For several decades, the Coliseum hosted the Nebraska School Activities Association Boys and Girls State Basketball Championship.
==Volleyball== thumb|right|275px|Nebraska vs. Iowa at the NU Coliseum on Nov. 21, 2012 After the completion of the NU Sports Complex in 1976, the Coliseum primarily served as the home venue of Nebraska's volleyball team. It underwent an extensive renovation in 1991 to better suit the needs of the program, reducing capacity to 4,030.<ref name=Closed/> The renovation made the Coliseum one of few collegiate arenas designed specifically for volleyball, and it became known for its intimate atmosphere which generated deafening acoustics.<ref name=ESPN>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-sports/columns/story?id=5903414|title=Huskers attract die-hard following|author=Mechelle Voepel|publisher=ESPN|date=10 December 2010|access-date=21 November 2016}}</ref> For decades the Coliseum provided a significant home-court advantage – Nebraska compiled an all-time record of 511–36 at the venue, including a 52–4 mark in the NCAA Division I tournament.<ref name=Closed/>
Nebraska set an NCAA Division I record with ninety consecutive home victories from 2004 to 2009. The streak ended against UCLA on September 14, 2009, in front of an NCAA regular-season-record crowd at the Devaney Center; NU's win streak at the Coliseum ended two weeks later.<ref name=Sellout/> In 2001, Nebraska began a sellout streak that continued from the Coliseum to the Devaney Center; the streak eventually passed 300 and ranks second to NU's football sellout streak across all collegiate sports.<ref name=Sellout>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/43616428/john-cook-retires-nebraska-dani-busboom-kelly-takes-over|title=John Cook retires at Nebraska; Dani Busboom Kelly takes over|website=ESPN|date=29 January 2025|access-date=2 April 2025}}</ref>
==Other events== In its early days, the Coliseum hosted university-sponsored swing dances.<ref name=Historic>{{cite web|url=https://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=19|title=Coliseum|website=UNL Historic Buildings|access-date=12 July 2025}}</ref> It hosted an Elvis Presley concert in 1956, an address by Vice President Richard Nixon in 1960, and a speech by United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy during his 1968 presidential campaign, just two months before his assassination.<ref name=Closed/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball navbox}} {{Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball navbox}} {{University of Nebraska–Lincoln}}
Category:College basketball venues in Nebraska Category:College volleyball venues in Nebraska Category:Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers sports venues Category:Sports venues completed in 1926 Category:University and college buildings and structures completed in 1926 Category:1926 establishments in Nebraska