Nick Mileti’s vision for building "The Palace on the Prairie" - The Richfield Coliseum - was two-fold.
He aimed to build one of the largest indoor seating capacity facilities in the country - 20,273 for basketball and 18,544 for hockey - while at the same time increasing the fan base potential for both his Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Crusaders, strategically placing his arena between Cleveland and Akron at the Route 303 exit off Interstate 271.
Initially, the vision worked beautifully. From the very first event, a concert by none other than Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, on October 26th, 1974, people were drawn to the state-of-the-art facility.
However, the drive did begin to wear fans down no matter the event, partly due to the gas crisis of the late 70s as well as the single-road access of route 303 that made getting into and out of the parking around all four sides of the building problematic.
My Own Parking Experience at the Richfield Coliseum
I myself was in my early driving teens, and my friends and I took turns driving out to the Great Grey Lady quite a bit, and I am proud to say that I stumbled upon a relatively quick way to exit the parking lot.
Instead of going with the flow that attendants were creating in one direction to exit, we once tried heading to the furthest entrance/exit point of the building, making it relatively easy to get onto Route 303. From that point all we had to do was wait for a few light changes before getting onto the freeway to head home - easy peasy!
But back to the Coliseum. Although the design and elegance of the building was truly magnificent, the building was not without some fatal flaws, one being the luxury boxes.
The Flaws of the Richfield Coliseum
The Coliseum’s luxury boxes were truly luxurious, no argument there, but they actually offered some of the worst actual seats for viewing an event of any kind because they were so far up and away from the floor.
Another flaw was the access between levels. It was complicated, as both levels were fed by one concourse, so even though the one concourse was wide, it wasn’t wide enough to handle the flow of a near or full-capacity event.
Sadly, another thing that seemingly was not considered was the difficulty of navigating Northeast Ohio winter weather. I remember one time in particular when my friend and I decided to head out to a Cavs game one winter night with no snow coming down - that is, until we got on 271. From there, we hit a lake-effect squall and did not even get to the 303 exit until just before halftime. So, we just got back on the freeway, headed home, and had a pizza finishing out the game on the radio with Joe Tait.
The Richfield Coliseum Was Home to a Little Bit of Everything
The Coliseum was home at one time to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Crusaders (WHA), Cleveland Barons (NHL), Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL), Cleveland Nets (World Team Tennis), Cleveland Force/Crunch (MISL), and the Cleveland Thunderbolts (AFL).
Ever hear of a little movie called Rocky? The heavyweight boxing match between Muhammed Ali and "The Bayonne Bleeder" Chuck Wepner, which served as the inspiration for the film, was held at the Coliseum on March 24th, 1975.
A number of big-name concerts were also held at the Coliseum over its brief 20-year history. I myself saw Elton John, Steve Martin, and Rodney Dangerfield there. Mr. Dangerfield even singled me out from the stage for one of his signature stinging barbs when he asked me my name and I froze under pressure, to which Rodney replied, “The questions get harder as we go along." The last concert and official event held there was performed by Roger Daltrey in 1994.
The Coliseum also hosted Cleveland Toughman competitions, various World Wrestling Federation events (some of which were taped for national broadcast), the 1981 NBA All-Star Game, the 1985 MISL All-Star Game, and another heavyweight boxing championship fight between Akron’s Michael Dokes and Gerrie Coetzee. Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird once stated that the Coliseum was his favorite building to play in; maybe that's why he always seemed to have great games against the Cavaliers.
Demolition of the Great Gray Lady began in 1999 after sitting vacant for five years, and the area has now fully returned to its woodland beginnings as part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, almost as though it was never there. But there are some of us who swear to this day that we can still see the Richfield Coliseum standing majestically just off the 303 exit ramp, inviting us in for another memorable evening of entertainment.