The arena, which opened in 1974, replaced the
Cleveland Arena, which had 12,500+ boxing capacity, 10,000+ otherwise. The new arena seated 20,273 for basketball and 18,544 for hockey, and was one of the first
indoor arenas to contain
luxury boxes. Cavaliers founder
Nick Mileti was the driving force behind the Coliseum's construction, believing that its location in northern Summit County south of Cleveland near the confluence of the
Ohio Turnpike and
Interstates 77 and
271 was ideally suited given the growth of
urban sprawl. While Cleveland Arena had once been one of the finest arenas in the country when it opened in 1937, it had not aged well by the time the Cavs arrived. It also had little parking. City officials balked at a downtown replacement, leading Mileti to turn his attention to the suburbs. The
Michael Dokes vs. Gerrie Coetzee professional boxing match was held at the Richfield Coliseum on September 23, 1983. That match was televised by HBO and contested for the WBA heavyweight world championship. The Coliseum was built in Richfield to draw fans from both of
Northeast Ohio's major cities, as nearly five million Ohioans lived within less than an hour's drive (in good weather) from the Coliseum. While the arena's location hindered attendance somewhat, the Cavaliers' average attendance was over 18,000 per game each of the last two seasons at the Coliseum. In a 2012 interview with
ESPN's
Bill Simmons, basketball great
Larry Bird said that it was his favorite arena to play in. The Coliseum was the site of Bird's final game in the NBA. The Force also drew well at Richfield: 20,174 attended when Cleveland took on
Minnesota on April 6, 1986, still the largest regular-season crowd (and the third-largest overall) ever to see an indoor soccer match in the US. The
World Wrestling Federation also promoted several notable
pay-per-view shows at the arena, including ''
Saturday Night's Main Event VII'' (taped September 13, 1986);
Survivor Series (1987);
Survivor Series (1988); and
Survivor Series (1992) Attendance hindrances Though a large arena at the time of construction, it had only one
concourse for both levels, which made for very cramped conditions when attendance was anywhere close to capacity. The Coliseum's real drawback was that the revenue-producing luxury suites were at the uppermost level and, as such, were the worst seats in the house. This situation was rectified at Gund Arena, where the suites were much closer to the playing area. Also hurting attendance was the arena's location at the interchange of Interstate 271 and
Ohio State Route 303, which was a rural, two-lane highway outside of Richfield. The rural location made the Coliseum inaccessible to anyone without an automobile, and as the only true access to the arena was directly at the interchange, traffic became an issue with every Coliseum event, especially when attendance was anywhere near capacity.
Demolition and environmental remediation The Coliseum's fate was sealed in 1990, when voters in
Cuyahoga County approved a new
sin tax to fund the
Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex, which included Gund Arena. The Cavaliers moved to Gund Arena at the beginning of the 1994–95 season. In 1997, the hardwood floor was sold to Grace Christian School of
Staunton, Virginia. After being vacant for five years, the arena was torn down in 1999, between March 30 and May 21, and the arena footprint and surrounding parking areas were allowed to be returned to woodland as part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, now
Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Two years later it was noted that the site appeared to have no trace of the former building, although a widened section of
Route 303, as well as the remains of the parking lot entrance, reveal its location. The site is now a grassy meadow and has become an important area for wildlife. Birds such as the
Eastern meadowlark,
bobolink, and various
sparrows now inhabit the area. This has caused the site to become popular with local birders.
Seating capacity The
seating capacity for basketball was: ==References==