Richfield Coliseum
| The Palace on the Prairie | |
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Aerial view of the Coliseum and neighboring farms in 1975
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| Address | 2923 Streetsboro Road |
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| Location | Richfield, Ohio |
| Coordinates | 41°14′43″N 81°35′38″W / 41.24528°N 81.59389°WCoordinates: 41°14′43″N 81°35′38″W / 41.24528°N 81.59389°W |
| Owner | Gund Business Enterprises, Inc. |
| Operator | Gund Business Enterprises, Inc. |
| Capacity |
Basketball: 20,273 Ice hockey: 18,544 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | March 16, 1973 |
| Opened | October 26, 1974 |
| Closed | September 24, 1994 |
| Demolished | March-May 1999 |
| Construction cost | US$36 million ($175 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | George E. Ross Architects, Inc. |
| Tenants | |
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Cleveland Crusaders (WHA) (1974–1976) Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA) (1974–1994) Cleveland Nets (WTT) (1975–1977) Cleveland Barons (NHL) (1976–1978) Cleveland Force (MISL) (1978–1988) Cleveland Crunch (MISL) (1989–1992) Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL) (1992–1994) Cleveland Thunderbolts (AFL) (1992–1994) |
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Richfield Coliseum, also known as the Coliseum at Richfield, was an indoor arena located in Richfield Township, between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. It opened in 1974 as a replacement for the Cleveland Arena, and had a seating capacity of 20, 273 for basketball. It was the main arena for the Northeast Ohio region until 1994, when it was replaced by Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. The Coliseum stood vacant for five years before it was purchased and demolished in 1999 by the National Park Service. The site of the building was converted to a meadow and is now part of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
The arena was primarily the home to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), developed by Cavaliers owner Nick Mileti, who also owned the Cleveland Crusaders of the World Hockey Association. Over the years it had additional tenants such as the Cleveland Barons of the National Hockey League, Cleveland Force of Major Soccer League, Cleveland Crunch of Major Indoor Soccer League, the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League, and the Cleveland Thunderbolts of the Arena Football League. 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. Richfield Coliseum hosted the 1987, 1988 and 1992 editions of WWE's Survivor Series pay-per-view.
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