right|250px|thumb|View of the Coliseum's seating during an Islanders gameThe
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, commonly known as
Nassau Coliseum or simply
The Coliseum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in
Uniondale, New York, on
Long Island. The Coliseum is 19 miles (30 km) from
New York City. It is home to the
New York Islanders of the
National Hockey League. "
Fort Neverlose" was also used as a nickname for Nassau Coliseum during the period between the and seasons as the Islanders won the
Stanley Cup four consecutive times.
History
Opened in 1972, the Coliseum occupies 63 acres (255,000 m²) of
Mitchel Field, site of a former Army and Air Force base. The facility is located in an unincorporated area of the Town of Hempstead, within the
Uniondale 11553 Zip Code.
The
New York Raiders, intended by the fledging
World Hockey Association to be their flagship franchise, was initially slated to play in the brand-new Nassau Coliseum. However,
Nassau County didn't consider the WHA a professional league and wanted nothing to do with the Raiders. Nassau County retained
William Shea to get an
NHL team to play in the new building. The NHL responded by hastily awarding a franchise to
Long Island -- the
New York Islanders -- which forced the Raiders to play in
Madison Square Garden, in the shadow of the
New York Rangers.
The Coliseum was home to the
New York Saints of the
National Lacrosse League from 1998–2003, but the Saints became an inactive team in
2004. In
2007, it was home to four of the
New York Titans National Lacrosse League team's eight home games (along with
Madison Square Garden). In 2008, the Titans moved all of their home games to Madison Square Garden.
Earlier, the Coliseum had hosted the
New York Arrows and later the
New York Express of the original
Major Indoor Soccer League. Before that, the Coliseum had been home to the
New York Nets of the
American Basketball Association, and later the
National Basketball Association, from 1972–1977. The Coliseum has also hosted first and second round games of the
NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, most recently in 2001.
The Coliseum is also used for
concerts, large exhibitions and shows of various kinds, as well as trade shows (44,000 square feet at the main arena, 60,000 at the Expo Center).
Long Island native
Billy Joel is one of the Coliseum's most prolific tenants, holding multiple shows at his hometown arena over the course of his tours. Billy Joel has a "retired number" banner, along with those of Islander greats, hanging from the rafters to commemorate his many Coliseum sellouts.
Elvis Presley performed four shows in 1973 and two in 1975.
David Bowie performed in the Coliseum during his 1976
Station to Station tour. The concert was broadcast on radio, and is one of his most popular live recordings; although the full concert has never been officially issued as an album, it has been heavily bootlegged and circulated by fans.
New Jersey rocker
Bruce Springsteen also played a memorable New Year's Eve concert at The Coliseum in 1980. Certain songs from the concert were used on his 1986 live album,
Live/1975–85. Both
Phish and the
Grateful Dead frequently played here and both have live albums recorded at Nassau Coliseum: the Grateful Dead (
Go to Nassau), Phish (
4-2-98,
4-3-98,
2-28-03 of the
Live Phish Series). The Dead also performed recently at the Coliseum, on April 24, 2009, during a reunion tour. The Coliseum was also one of only two US venues chosen a few years earlier when
Pink Floyd performed their limited run of shows in support of their 1979 album
The Wall in February 1980. One of the shows was filmed and bootlegged and has been heavily traded by fans for years. Eight years later,
Pink Floyd recorded and filmed their concert film and album
Delicate Sound of Thunder at the Coliseum in August 1988.
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum hosted the first-third of the
World Wrestling Federation's
WrestleMania 2 in 1986 and
SummerSlam in 2002, in addition to WWE's
The Great American Bash pay-per-view event in 2008. The Coliseum has also hosted several WWE television shows like RAW, SmackDown!, HEAT, Velocity, Superstars of Wrestling, and Saturday Night's Main Event.
The Nassau Coliseum hosted
minor league hockey prior to the awarding of the Islanders franchise, an event that was brought back in 2005, when the Islanders-affiliated
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (
AHL) played two "home games" at the Coliseum in the absence of
NHL hockey due to the lockout. It originally had a capacity of 12,000 to 15,000 depending on the event, but in the early 1980s the maximum capacity was increased to around 18,000. It currently seats 16,234 for hockey, up to 17,760 for concerts and 17,686 for
boxing and
wrestling.
Scenes for the
2007 movie
Music and Lyrics starring
Hugh Grant and
Drew Barrymore were filmed at the arena.
On February 6 and February 7, 2008, the
Spice Girls performed to two sold-out crowds as part of their
Return of the Spice Girls World Tour. It was their first performance in the
New York area as a five-piece act. During the summer of their
Spiceworld Tour in 1998, the girls had played the
Nikon at Jones Beach Theater,
PNC Bank Arts Center, and
Madison Square Garden as part of their New York dates, but
Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) had left the group right before the American leg of the tour.
On December 3 and December 4, 2008, singer
Tina Turner performed at the Coliseum as part of her
Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour.
On March 11, 2009, singer
Britney Spears performed at the Coliseum as part of her
The Circus Starring: Britney Spears tour. She returned on March 23, 2009 for her second night at the Coliseum, with both shows selling out.
On April 17 and April 18, 2009, the
Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the
AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders, played two of their home playoff games against the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the Coliseum due to a scheduling conflict at the Sound Tigers' regular home, the
Arena at Harbor Yard.
On July 19, July 20, and July 21, 2009, the
Jonas Brothers performed at the Coliseum for 3 sold out shows. This is the
Jonas Brothers second time selling out the venue, after the tour they headlined with
Miley Cyrus in December 2007.
Redevelopment
The Coliseum is currently the third oldest arena in active use by an NHL team (after Pittsburgh's
Mellon Arena and nearby
Madison Square Garden), and has the smallest capacity of all arenas in the NHL without standing room. The arena has been considered obsolete for many years, and various Islanders owners have been trying to replace the arena for over 10 years. Knowing that the arena was deteriorating, team and County officials announced in 2004 an
ambitious plan to renovate the Coliseum, instead of building a whole new arena. The centerpiece of the project was be a 60-story tower (since removed from the plans) designed to look like a lighthouse. Other plans include new housing units (including affordable housing units), athletic facilities, a new minor league baseball stadium, restaurants, and a new hotel. The project would also add trees, water and other natural elements to the area to replace the sea of concrete, as well as many other things to the area. On August 14, 2007, Islanders owner
Charles Wang and the Lighthouse Development Group, partnered with Rexcorp, created a new plan changing the overall project scale. The 60 story "Lighthouse" has evolved into two 31 story buildings connected with a footbridge at the top. The project as a whole has transformed from a simple renovation of the Coliseum property into a 150-acre transformation of surrounding properties. The plans currently include over 2,000 residential units (20% affordable housing), a five-star hotel, convention center, sports technology center, 500,000 square feet of retail space, and a sports complex adjacent to the renovated Coliseum. The overall project is slated to cost roughly $3.75 billion.
Construction was not planned to begin until at least mid-2009, and, given the steps that still need to take place, construction will likely begin in 2010 after the 2009-10 hockey season. Nassau County approved the entire Lighthouse development in 2006 on a 16-2 vote, and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement was recently completed after a state-mandated environmental review.
The Lighthouse Project is currently in front of the
Town of Hempstead for approval on a change in land zoning. If the approval is not granted, Wang has stated that he may be forced to consider other options, which could include the possibility of moving the team off of Long Island.
Trivia
- During the New York Islanders run of four consecutive Stanley Cup Championships in the early-1980's, Nassau Coliseum was proudly referred to as "Fort Neverlose" by fans of the team. (In those four seasons, the Isles lost just 36 of their 200 regular season and playoff games at home, compiling a 141-36-23 mark.)
- Fans of rival teams as well as frustrated Islander fans sometimes use the moniker "Nassau Mausoleum" to describe the deteriorating conditions of the building. This nickname is also applicable in certain entertainment circles due to their being plagued by injury during performances at the Coliseum. In one such example, in November 2006, an ice skater performing in the Disney On Ice presentation of Princess Wishes was badly injured during a high-risk stunt, breaking his nose and wrist as well as being knocked unconscious for several minutes.
- This arena was given the nickname "Bust Palace" in 1972, for all of the drug arrests at all of the Rock concerts held there, according to talk show host Alex Bennett.
- During various times throughout the summer, Jehovah's Witnesses use the arena to hold their annual District Convention.
- The parking fields are often used from March through October for Autocross events by such auto clubs like: The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), The BMW Car Club of America (BMWCCA) NY chapter, and The Porsche Club of America (PCA). These events take place usually in Lot 8 on Saturdays and Sundays from 9AM till 3–5PM. The events are open to anyone with roadworthy automobile (although club membership garners lower entrance fees).
- The Lifter Puller song "Nassau Coliseum" is set during a drug arrest at Nassau Coliseum.
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