The Coliseum 

The Coliseum: A Sioux Falls Landmark at a Crossroads

The story of the Sioux Falls Coliseum starts long before the building itself. Back in 1905, the land north of the Courthouse — what we now know as the Old Courthouse Museum — was purchased with the simple idea of creating a farmers’ market. But Sioux Falls was growing fast, and that little patch of land soon took on a much bigger role.

By 1917, architect Joseph Schwarz — the same mind behind the Carnegie Library — designed a new convention and community hall for the city. That building became the Coliseum, and for generations it served as one of Sioux Falls’ most important gathering places.

Over the years, the Coliseum welcomed an incredible lineup of performers and public figures. Katharine Hepburn, the Harlem Globetrotters, Bob Hope, Henry Fonda, Ella Fitzgerald, and so many others took the stage here. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech inside its walls. And in 1924, the building became the center of controversy when the local Ku Klux Klan attempted to rent it for a meeting — a plan the mayor shut down after public outcry.

The Coliseum continued to evolve. In the 1930s, an annex was added to house an armory and livestock building. Those additions were lost in a 1973 fire, but the original structure survived. As the year 2000 approached, the building once again faced an uncertain future. Demolition was on the table, but the community stepped up. In the spring of 2001, the Coliseum was saved and eventually became home to the Multicultural Center, and then LSS giving the building a new chapter in its long life.

Today, the Coliseum stands at another turning point — a reminder that our historic spaces are never guaranteed. Their survival depends on the choices we make now, and the value we place on the stories they hold.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-coliseum/id1509900555?i=1000698739721