The 39-year-old Richmond Coliseum is in pretty rough shape, so business leaders are stepping up to fund a study of the facility and determine whether renovation or a new arena is in order.
Richmond is a pretty major area to lack a major arena in good shape, so four Fortune 500 firms — Dominion Resources Inc., Altria, Genworth Financial and MeadWestvaco — are paying for a study from Barrett Sports Group to determine whether the Coliseum is viable with renovations or whether a new arena is in order. Also involved: Populous and Weston Sports.
One possibility if the city wants to go with a new arena: the Boulevard area, where there’s also talk of a new ballpark to replace The Diamond.
The Coliseum opened in 1971 and has served over the years as home to ABA, AHL, ECHL and SPHL teams. It’s a big place — the second-largest arena in Virginia behind John Paul Jones Arena — but it’s obviously not in the best of shape.
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