Blackham Coliseum

Blackham Coliseum
Former names	N/A
Location	444 Cajundome Boulevard (at Johnston Street) Lafayette, Louisiana 70506
Opened	1950
Closed	Open
Demolished	N/A
Owner	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Operator	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Surface	Concrete
Capacity	Official: 5,500 Concerts: 9,800
Tenants
Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball (NCAA) (1950–1984) Acadiana Mudbugs (SIFL) (2008) Louisiana IceGators (SPHL) (2009–2010)

Blackham Coliseum is a multipurpose arena in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was built on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus in 1949 as the home to the then-named SLI Bulldogs, now called the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball teams. The arena was named for Stafford Morgan Blackham, former dean of the Department of Animal Husbandry at SLI, and as such it was built to host livestock exhibitions as well as athletics (in a similar manner to the usage of LSU's Parker Coliseum).^[1] It replaced the 1,500-seat Earl K. Long Gymnasium as home to the athletics teams. It remained the home for the men's team until the Cajundome was completed in 1984. The women still play the majority of their games at Blackham Coliseum. It hosted the Southland Conference men's basketball tournament in 1982.

Today it is still in use, seating 5,500 for basketball and up to 9,800 for concerts. It also features 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) of space at the main arena with two barns adding an additional 46,500 square feet (4,300 m²) of space. Altogether, the three buildings can also be used for trade shows, rodeos and conventions. It was home to the Lafayette Wildcatters of the Southern Indoor Football League for their 2009 season, and in fall 2009, the revived Louisiana IceGators began play there as a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League.^[2]

In April 2009, the venue held its first heavy metal concert, the 2009 No Fear Music Tour featuring Lamb Of God, As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom, God Forbid and Municipal Waste.

The venue serves as home to the Grammy-styled, annual Le Cajun Music Awards Festival held every August by the Cajun French Music Association, an association of Cajun music enthusiasts for the preservation of the Cajun music, language, heritage and culture.

Future

UL Lafayette President Dr. E Joseph Savoie has confirmed that negotiations are underway for a long-term lease to turn the stadium into a film studio. This would help attract even more film companies to Lafayette, and would help create educational opportunities for students who major in UL Lafayette's moving image arts program, the only such program in the state of Louisiana.^[3]

References

Coordinates: 30°12′38″N 92°01′59″W / 30.210554°N 92.033122°W / 30.210554; -92.033122

External links

• Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission - Blackham Coliseum

v t e Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball Venues Earl K. Long Gymnasium (1939–1950) Blackham Coliseum (1950–1985) Cajundome (1985–present) Culture & lore Cayenne "Ragin' Cajuns Fight Song" NCAA sanctions People Head coaches Seasons 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

v t e Southern Professional Hockey League Teams Bloomington Thunder Columbus Cottonmouths Fayetteville FireAntz Huntsville Havoc Knoxville Ice Bears Louisiana IceGators Mississippi RiverKings Mississippi Surge Pensacola Ice Flyers Peoria Rivermen Arenas Cajundome (Louisiana) Carver Arena (Peoria) Columbus Civic Center (Columbus) Cumberland County Crown Coliseum (Fayetteville) Lander's Center (Mississippi RiverKings) James White Civic Coliseum (Knoxville) Mississippi Coast Coliseum (Mississippi Surge) Pensacola Civic Center (Pensacola) U.S. Cellular Coliseum (Bloomington) Von Braun Center (Huntsville) Seasons 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 President's Cup William B. Coffey Trophy Other Professional Hockey leagues