Washington Coliseum
April 23, 2009 at 10:55 amDC
It’s a big parking lot for cars today, but this building was formerly the Uline Arena, named after Miguel “Uncle Mike” Uline. He built it in 1941 for his hockey team, the Washington Lions, and it seated about 7,000 people at capacity. Other events like ice skating, martial arts performances, ballet, circuses(!), and speeches were held here, too. Weeks before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a rally was held inside the arena to promote U.S. entry in World War II. But, perhaps most famously, it was where the Beatles played their first concert in the United States – February 11, 1964. I cannot even begin to picture what that must have looked and sounded like. Think the acoustics are decent!?!
It was renamed the Washington Coliseum in 1959, but I think most people still call it the Uline, and in fact I’ve never heard it called the Washington Coliseum by anyone around here… ? One more little tidbit – the photograph of Bob Dylan on the cover of his Greatest Hits album was taken at a concert at Washington Coliseum in ‘66. Hard to tell since it just looks like a hairy fro, but I’ll believe it.
Hopefully we’ll see some new development turn it into a cool new venue in the future. And maybe Sir Paul McCartney will come back and play.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 11:00 am
the old seats are still there too! http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhoek/3454058972/
May 5th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
pic brought back memories…I attended that concert…my 1st ever…I think the tickets were $12 and I had to scramble to come up with the money. I never knew the album cover was from that concert. “Gates of Eden” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYcyLes67Og was awesome.
May 30th, 2009 at 8:53 am
this was a trash transfer station for most of the late 80s-90s. cool none the less. even cooler was the union station round house that was torn down in 97. living in a city you entire life gives benefits ya new folks dont know about
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July 7th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
O.k…where are some pix of the building of the Uline Ice Arena…more early interior pix of the place being active…other pictures of other events at the Uline ice arena…the hockey games…the dances…the rallies…no where are they to be found…the dressing rooms…the foyer…the hallways…backstage corridors where the artists would have walked to and fro…early pictures of the place alive…all we ever see are ones of it run down…where is the splender…the world wonders…someone needs to do a book…wasn’t a movie filmed there…I saw a movie and near the end…someone sang and the ceiling looked liked that of the decrepid Ulline Ice Arena…the way the inside ceiling looks now…not many ceilings look like that …yes it was barreled and looked like the inside of the Uline Ice Arena….I think this building use to be very important….if enough for Brian Epstein to book it to assure a sell out…which is his usual way of business…Thank you. You may email me back…
March 14th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I park here every morning and, as a huge Beatles fan, I always walk out of the building right through the center of the open space and imagine to myself that the Beatles played in that very spot. I get goosebumps every morning.
It’s in horrible shape. Right after imagining that the Beatles played in the spot I walked through, I always imagine ceiling falling apart and landing on my car!
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:30 pm
ME AGAIN…I just got back from Washington where I went with Milwaukee Area Technical College…and on my time off I made sure I saw for myself …the Uline Ice Arena…I first saw it at night and it was a magnificant sight…so I of course came back the next day…I tried to take every imaginable photo of the bldg …and must have taken at least fifty pictures of it…it is an amazing looking bldg…I thought why not save it…and tear town the surrounding old apts that make the neighborhood lood terrible…my pictures look great…and they are the first pics of D.C. I show everyone and they ask …did not I see anything else…so then I have to show them my pics of the white house and lincoln memorial…but then I found the Uline open for parking cars and I asked to go in…and the guy said I could…I spent 45 minutes climbing up into the balcony and risking slilpping and falling off down onto the concrete floor breaking something…and just about every 30 feet…water was leaking from the ceiling…the old press box where I believe you can see Beatles manager Brian Epstein watching his boys thrill the 8,000 people…and I just wished I had a bright lamp to carry while I hoped to have walked on the main concourse to find the dressing rooms or conecession stands…without risking being surprised by maybe some wild racoon or pack of rats…I could only hope the place was free of that nightmare…but then a day later I went to the District of Columbia Historic Society and some guy over heard me mention the name Uline Arena and he came up to me and the employee and show me this awesome book called WASHINGTON HISTORY…vol. 16 number 1 Spring/Summer 2004…in which a Justine Christianson wrote an excellent quite amazing 17 page bio on the bldg…and what a history the building has…quite a read…your not gonna believe how important this building was…the story is called “The Uline Arena/ Washington Coliseum: The Rise and Fall of Washington Institution”…seek it out and sigh…oh and I hate to say this …but if I were to have judged from just seeing the interior of the Uline Ice Arena …I would be the first to say TEAR the @#$#%& DOWN…it was definite in worse appearance than this wonderful photo shows…and I made my way around the whole facility up in the balcony holding tightly to anything I could to keep from falling…so if they ask for a donation to keep the bldg…please…do so…’cause it is gonna need…but go see the place for yourself…I asked a guy if he knew what the bldg was…and of course he said no…than he said…” I always wonderd why I saw seats in their” …so I fully explained to him what the bldg was…and how important it really is…I read that that the Beach Boys and the Yardbirds also have played there as well…the place is a must see thought…I have my many photos of it just in case it goes though…
August 7th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Sports, The Beatles and History…
I am writing to ask for your permission to include your posts on DCguide.com and include a link to your blog in our directory. We would include a link back to your blog fully crediting you for your work along with a profile about you listed on DCguide….