Along with the old courthouse and Bosse Field, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum has been a fixture in the city of Evansville. Located on Court Street, the Coliseum (a.k.a Veterans Memorial Coliseum) built in 1918 by Mayor Benjamin Bosse as an honor to the veterans of the Civil War and Spanish-American War.
During its early years, the Coliseum was the place around the city where the best entertainment occurred. This included hosting car shows, the Shrine Circus, bingo, and Evansville College used to play its basketball games there. When Roberts Stadium was built  the Coliseum lost some of its appeal and it closed in 1969. The Coliseum was built by the city and given to Vanderburgh County around this time. During the waning years of not being in use, the Coliseum deteriorated until the Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County acquired and starring to renovated the building.
In April of 1971, the Veterans Council entered a 99-year lease agreement with the county. Â Currently, there has been some speculation of tearing this historical landmark down. Out of the blue the City of Evansville/Vanderburgh County Building Inspector have been petitioned by the County to conduct a codes compliance review to determine if the Coliseum meet current building safety codes. Â Wasn’t this the same approach that Mayor Wienzapfel used to convince the City Council its time to demolished Robert’s Stadium because of safety issues? Â The good news is that elected officials from both the City and the County all denied that the want to demolish the Coliseum.
Time To Establish A “Call To Duty” Fundraising Campaign
The Coliseum is not only apart of Evansville’s heritage but it’s a considered a national treasure by most people. This community treasure is in immediate need of financial help in order to do some much needed maintenance and renovation work.
Its time for members of the Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County and community leaders to organize a fundraising campaign to refinish the wood floors add fresh coat of paint throughout the building, refinishing the wood stage, fixing broken stadium seats and update heating and air, plumbing and electrical system.
Its time to give the ‘Grand Old Lady” of our historical past a serious make over. Â She is the guardian of our heroic past and is a lasting tribute to those brave men and women would fought so gallantly to preserve the freedom we enjoy today.
She also represents  the families, friends, and their love one who stayed behind to assist the war effort who played a major effort in our winning wars and military conflicts of the past.
Its time for members of the Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County and community leaders to start contacting  local businesses owners, bankers, lawyers, health professionals, and average everyday citizens of this community to persuade them to invest in this most worthy project.
We encourage members of Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County and community leaders  to start a “Call To Duty” fundraising campaign to restore the Veterans Memorial Coliseum so our grandchildren and their kids will be able to see and hear stories of our historic past!
Maybe when it gets torn down like so many other historic buildings, they can put the pro soccer field there for those looking to add to the list of people funded arenas in town
You appear to have a sound business mind, perhaps you should run for offfice.
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