Behold our once splendid, but now rundown, State Coliseum, bereft of its former glory. Its construction began in 1949, and as an architectural student I went on field trips to Montgomery to gape at the amazing concept. The structure’s circular plan is 340-feet in diameter, and its barrel arch concrete roof rises 100-feet above the arena floor. For many years it was the largest enclosed arena in the United States, and people would travel to Montgomery from all over just to see it. The facility served to return State Fair glory to Montgomery, and it has accommodated hundreds of events that otherwise would never have booked Monkey Town. In its heyday, besides the fair and livestock expositions, Garrett Coliseum hosted ice shows, the Ringling Bros circus, rodeos, the Jr League rummage sale, mystic balls, basketball, political rallies, truck pulls, horse shows and much more.

In 1960, the Montgomery Association of Architects voted this “the most significant building built in Montgomery over the past 100 years” (the State Capitol was a close second). The design was conceived by Betty Nicrosi Robison, wife of a Montgomery State senator, and the first female graduate of Auburn’s School of Architecture. It was carried out by Sherlock, Smith & Adams Architects of Montgomery, an engineering feat for which SS&A should be most proud.

-Charles Humphries