Chicago Coliseum

The Chicago Coliseum was the name applied to three large indoor arenas in Chicago, Illinois, which stood successively from the 1860s to 1982; they served as venues for sports events, large (national-class) conventions and as exhibition halls. The first Coliseum stood at State and Washington streets in Chicago’s downtown in the late 1860s. The second, at 63rd Street near Stony Island Avenue in the south side's Woodlawn community, hosted the 1896 Democratic National Convention. The third Chicago Coliseum was located at 15th and Wabash on the near south side; it hosted five consecutive Republican National Conventions, 1904 through 1920, and that of the Progressive Party convention in 1912. In the 1960s and early '70s it served as a general admission venue for rock concerts, roller derbys and professional wrestling matches; it was closed in 1971 and taken down in 1982.