Chicago Coliseum - The Second Coliseum

The Second Coliseum

The second Coliseum, situated in Woodlawn on the south side, had a difficult history. Initial construction began early in 1895 on a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site of the World's Columbian Exposition, but in August of that year the incomplete structure collapsed, and builders had to start over. Construction of the 300-by-700 foot building entailed the use of 2.5 million pounds of steel, 3.2 million feet of lumber, and 3 million bricks, and was finally completed in June 1896. The building was impressive in size for its day, twice as large as Madison Square Garden; its interior was supported by 12 massive arches, 100 feet high with a span of 230 feet. There were seven acres of interior floor space.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show opened the facility, and in July, 1896, it hosted the Democratic Party's national convention, which nominated for the presidency William Jennings Bryan; he famously electrified the crowd with his historic “Cross of Gold” speech. In October of 1896 the Coliseum hosted the Barnum and Bailey Circus, the largest three-ring circus in the country.

College football teams immediately saw the feasibility of playing indoor games in the Coliseum, and four big games took place:

• University of Michigan vs. University of Chicago, Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1896; won by Chicago 7-6.
• Carlisle Indian School vs. University of Wisconsin, December 19, 1896; won by Carlisle, 18-8.
• Carlisle Indian School vs. University of Illinois, November 20, 1897; won by Carlisle, 23-6.
• University of Michigan vs. University of Chicago, Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1897; won by Chicago 21-12.

The Carlisle games represented the first time the Carlisle Indian School played in the Midwest. In 1896, 8,000 fans each attended the Chicago-Michigan and Carlisle-Wisconsin games, and in 1897, 12,000 fans attended the Carlisle-Illinois game and 10,000 showed for the second Michigan-Chicago game.

In January of 1897, the Coliseum hosted one of the largest trade shows in the country, the annual Bicycle manufacturer's trade show. Another great trade show took place in October, the Chicago Horse Show.

The Coliseum by this time was being hailed as a financial success. Besides football games, the facility hosted bicycle races, the Military and Athletic Carnival of the AAU, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, horse shows, agricultural exhibitions, and commercial trade shows. But all this would soon come to an end. On December 24, 1897, around 6:00 PM, during the Manufacturers' Carnival and Winter Fair, after many visitors had left the exhibit for supper, a fire broke out and swept through the building. Despite initial reports of numerous deaths, only one fireman died. The building was completely destroyed, primarily when one of the 14 arches supporting the roof fell over to bring down all the other arches like a row of dominoes. The fire consumed the building within twenty minutes. This massive structure, one of the greatest indoor facilities of the nineteenth century, had a lifespan of only 19 months.