1988 - The Coliseum, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

The Coliseum is located on the Evansdale Campus in Morgantown. Constructed of precast concrete, this structure seats 14,000 to 16,000 person for concerts and sporting events. It was designed by Silling Associates, Inc. of Charleston, WV.

A striking feature of the Coliseum is the domed roof. It is composed of 40 column segments which support 40 precast concrete ribs each weighing more than 100 tons. During construction each rib was poured on site in a mold and hoisted into place by crane.

The 40 concrete ribs, which comprise the Coliseum dome, span from an outer tension ring, 51 feet above the entrance level, to an inner compression ring, 155 feet above the floor level. The outer tension ring contains over 70 miles of high strength steel wire. This entire dome is 360 feet in diameter and covers four and a half acres.

Nearly 70,000 cubic yards of earth were moved to form the large foundation of the Coliseum. During this excavation, no member of the work crew was able to throw a stone more than half way across the pit.

At a final cost of $10.5 million, the Coliseum was completed in 1970. It was dedicated on December 1st with the WVU Basketball team’s 113092 victory over Colgate.

The Coliseum is the only modern West Virginia structure to be included in “A Guide to the Architecture of the U.S. – Notable Buildings from the 12th Century to the Present”.