Rapides Parish Coliseum
| Rapides Coliseum, The Coliseum | |
Front Entrance of Rapides Coliseum
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| Location | 5600 Coliseum Boulevard Alexandria, Louisiana 71303 |
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| Coordinates | 31°17′48″N 92°30′13″W / 31.29667°N 92.50361°WCoordinates: 31°17′48″N 92°30′13″W / 31.29667°N 92.50361°W |
| Owner | Coliseum Authority |
| Capacity | Basketball: 8,900 Center-Stage: 10,000 Concert End-Stage: 8,000 Open Floor: 7,000 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1965 |
| Renovated | 2015–2017 |
| Reopened | 2017 |
| Construction cost | $22.9 million (2017 renovation) |
| Architect |
Buddy Tudor, Tudor Construction Company Bill Tudor, Alliance Design Group (2017 Renovation) |
| Tenants | |
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Alexandria Warthogs (WPHL) (1998–2000) Louisiana Rangers (IPFL/NIFL) (2000–2002) |
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Buddy Tudor, Tudor Construction Company
The Rapides Parish Coliseum (often called the Rapides Coliseum, as noted on the sign out front) is a multi-purpose arena located on Louisiana Highway 28 West in Alexandria, Louisiana. The coliseum can seat up to 10,000 people in the 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) building. Additional space is in the smaller Exhibition Hall, also on the property. Built in 1965 by Buddy Tudor's family-owned construction company in Pineville, Louisiana with foreman, Pete Honeycutt along with his father leading the job. The dome-topped coliseum has hosted thousands of events, including music concerts, "monster" truck shows, professional wrestling, trade shows and sporting events.
Additional facilities on the grounds include a 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m2) Exhibition Hall often used for trade shows.
The arena was first constructed in 1964 and completed in 1965. The venue features 4 meeting rooms with over 700 square feet (100 m2) of space, 2 multi-purpose rooms with over 2,100 square feet (200 m2) of space, a catering kitchen, 4 locker rooms, 10 luxury suites, office space, ticket booths, and a merchandise store. The coliseum property contains a 2,500 lot parking space.
In October 2008, a report [1] was produced for the Rapides Parish Police Jury that estimates the total cost of repairs and needed updates to be $10 million. On November 6, 2012, Rapides Parish voters approved a $23 million bond issue back by a $2.5 million property tax for the coliseum. Also approved was a $1 million tax to pay for the coliseum maintenance and operations for a period of 20 years. The $23 million taxes would pay for renovation projects that included an expanded seating capacity, a new 3-story lobby, sky boxes and exhibition hall, improved electrical systems and roofing, new rest rooms, stages, dressing rooms, and a basketball floor, and a rebuilt parking space. The coliseum also features a new center-hung video display. The renovation was designed to give the coliseum a modern appeal and attract larger events for the Rapides Parish area.
Start of construction for the project was delayed due to the Rapides Parish Police Jury's difficulty of obtaining a permit to begin the renovations because of dispute between them and the city of Alexandria over the Rapides Parish Coliseum parking lot issue which was eventually settled. The project officially began in April 2015. Renovation was completed and the coliseum held their grand opening on February 10, 2017.
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