Hirsch Memorial Coliseum is 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Shreveport, Louisiana , designed by the late local architect Edward F. Neild Jr. (1908–1958) who, with his father in 1937, had designed the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport. The coliseum is named after William Rex Hirsch, a former fair president, manager and treasurer. The building completed construction in 1954, the year of Hirsch's death, and initially was planned to have the name The Youth Building . The coliseum has been used for a variety of events through the years, with dirt being brought in and placed on the floor for rodeos and tractor pulls. It is located adjacent to the Independence Stadium and across from Fair Park High School in Shreveport. Hirsch coliseum is very similar in design, though smaller in size to the John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum (completed in 1937 and designed by Neild, Sr), owned and operated by the Louisiana State University Campus in Baton Rouge. However, the Parker coliseum has a dirt floor arena and is mainly used for livestock-type events, with portable hard floors laid on top of the dirt for other types of events such as basketball games or concerts.
22-749: The Hirsch was home to the professional Shreveport Mudbugs minor league ice hockey team, from 1997, until they moved to the CenturyTel Center , in Bossier City in 2000. It hosted the 1981 Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball tournament and has hosted the Southland Conference men's basketball tournament six times. It was also home to the Shreveport-Bossier Bombers indoor football team. The Coliseum has hosted many professional wrestling events over
44-788: A professional ice hockey team which played in the Bossier City - Shreveport metropolitan area of Louisiana . From 1997 to 2001, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were members of the Western Professional Hockey League , until a 2001 merger between the WPHL with the Central Hockey League. From 2001 to 2011, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs played in the Central Hockey League . From 1997 until 2000, they were known as
66-455: The 2014–15 season , officially signaling the end of the Central Hockey League after 22 seasons. The Allen Americans , who won the last two CHL President's Cups, won two consecutive ECHL titles following the folding of the Central Hockey League. The Mississippi RiverKings, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder were the last of the original six franchises still playing at the end of the CHL's tenure;
88-807: The Shreveport Mudbugs , changing the name to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs after the team relocated from the Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport to the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City. One of the few successful sports teams from the Bossier-Shreveport area, the Mudbugs found success early. Coached by former Mudbug player Scott Muscutt and owned by Tommy and Leslie Scott, the team increased attendance each year and hosted
110-634: The WPHL . Following the merger of the WPHL and CHL , the Mudbugs found their way back to the Ray Miron President's Cup Finals three times (2004, 2006, 2011). The Mudbugs were the only team in history of the WPHL and CHL to ever win the Cup three straight years. During the 2009–10 season, Mudbugs legend goaltender Ken Carroll and Travis Clayton were named to the Central Hockey League's All Decade Team. On July 20, 2010 former player Jason Campbell
132-682: The All-Star festivities for the Central Hockey League in 2007. The Mudbugs maintained heated rivalries with the Texas Brahmas , Laredo Bucks , Mississippi RiverKings , and Colorado Eagles . In their first four seasons, the Mudbugs saw their most success. After the sweep from the Fort Worth Brahmas in the second round of their opening season, the Mudbugs went on to win the President's Cup Championships three straight years in
154-689: The CHL: the Dallas Stars , Minnesota Wild , and Tampa Bay Lightning . Several teams of defunct leagues joined the CHL along its history, including the Southern Hockey League , Western Professional Hockey League and International Hockey League . After two teams suspended operations during the 2014 offseason, the ECHL accepted the remaining seven teams as members in October 2014, meaning
176-587: The Central Hockey League was purchased from Global Entertainment by all the team owners, putting the CHL business model in line with that of the NHL and AHL. On May 2, 2014 the St. Charles Chill ceased operations. Soon after, the Arizona Sundogs and Denver Cutthroats suspended operations. On October 7, 2014, it was announced that the ECHL had accepted the Central Hockey League's remaining seven teams as members for
198-605: The Coliseum when the Shreveport Rouxgaroux begin play in the National Arena League . It also has a long history as a concert venue. Most notably, Hirsch Memorial Coliseum is where the words " Elvis has left the building !" were first uttered in 1957. Not only that, but on June 7, 1975 Elvis Presley himself performed an afternoon and evening show at the coliseum. His next and final appearance at
220-764: The RiverKings since folded, in 2018. In the 2014–15 season, ten teams (Allen, Brampton, Colorado, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Missouri, Quad City, Rapid City, Tulsa, and Wichita) were in the ECHL, two teams (Mississippi and Columbus) were in the SPHL, and four organizations (Corpus Christi, Fort Worth Brahmas, Odessa, and Rio Grande Valley) fielded junior teams in the NAHL. Of the CHL's remaining teams prior to October 7, 2014, Tulsa, Wichita, Allen, Colorado, Fort Wayne, Missouri (now Kansas City), and Rapid City are still active as of 2023. Of
242-1221: The Year Central Hockey League Coach of the Year Central Hockey League Rookie of the Year Central Hockey League Most Outstanding Goaltender Western Professional Hockey League Rookie of the Year Western Professional Hockey League Playoff Most Valuable Player Western Professional Hockey League Man of the Year Western Professional Hockey League Most Outstanding Goaltender Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL)
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#1732797685938264-564: The coliseum would be on July 1, 1976, 13 months before his death on August 16 of the following year. This is also the venue in which Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen first met his future wife Valeri Bertinelli after a show in August 1980. Rush was scheduled to perform during their Roll the Bones Tour on February 22, 1992, with Primus as their opening act, but the show was cancelled due to Geddy Lee contracting laryngitis. In January 1995, it
286-554: The end for the CHL after 22 seasons. The Central Hockey League (CHL) was revived in 1992 by Ray Miron and the efforts of Bill Levins , with the idea of central ownership of both the league and the teams. Both men were from hockey backgrounds. Miron had been general manager of the Colorado Rockies (now the New Jersey Devils ), and had briefly been president of the previous Central Hockey League in 1976. In
308-562: The ensuing years. The last active former WPHL team, the Fort Worth Brahmas , effectively ceased operations following the 2012–13 season . Subsequently, in 2010, the International Hockey League folded and all five remaining IHL teams joined the CHL; the last of these, the Quad City Mallards , folded in 2018 in the ECHL. Brad Treliving , who co-founded the WPHL in 1996, became CHL commissioner following
330-859: The inaugural 1992–93 season the league had six teams, including the Oklahoma City Blazers , the Tulsa Oilers , the Wichita Thunder , the Memphis RiverKings , the Dallas Freeze and the Fort Worth Fire . After Levins died, the league's championship trophy (awarded to the winner of the CHL playoffs) was renamed the Levins Cup . After running the league for eight years, Miron retired in 2000 and sold
352-439: The league. The Levins Cup was renamed the Ray Miron President's Cup . After experiments in expansion and an ongoing battle for players and markets with the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) throughout the late 1990s, the CHL merged with the WPHL in 2001, with 10 former WPHL teams joining the CHL for the 2001–02 season . However, several years of gradual contraction in the former WPHL markets claimed most of these teams in
374-685: The merger, before leaving to join the Phoenix Coyotes . Duane Lewis was named the permanent commissioner in June 2008. In October 2013, the CHL appointed former president of the Pittsburgh Penguins Steve Ryan to succeed Lewis. On March 8, 2013, the Central Hockey League announced an expansion team in Brampton, Ontario . The Brampton Beast would become the first Canadian team in the CHL's history. In October 2013,
396-732: The years including NWA , WCW and WWE events. From 2013 to 2015, the Hirsch was home to a professional basketball franchise through the American Basketball Association called the Shreveport-Bossier Mavericks . In 2016, a new junior hockey team returned as the Shreveport Mudbugs in the North American Hockey League and play at George's Pond at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum. In 2025, indoor football will return to
418-428: Was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which operated the league from 2000 to 2013, at which point it was purchased by the individual franchise owners. As of the end of its final season in 2014, three of the 30 National Hockey League teams had affiliations with
440-767: Was announced that a new Mudbugs team would return for the 2016–17 season after signing a 12-year lease agreement with the Louisiana State Fairgrounds to play their home games in the Hirsch Coliseum as a member of the Tier II junior North American Hockey League . On April 8, 2016, the Shreveport Mudbugs were officially announced as an expansion team in the NAHL. Ray Miron President's Cup Champions Governor's Cup Champions Central Hockey League Northern Conference Champions Division Championships Central Hockey League Franchise of
462-611: Was named the new Vice President & General Manager for the Mudbugs. With the merger of the CHL and the IHL beginning with the 2010–11 season , the Mudbugs played in the Berry Conference. The Mudbugs would go on to win the Ray Miron President's Cup that season in a seven-game series with the Colorado Eagles , but would cease operations two weeks later citing low attendance and financial issues. In October 2015, it
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#1732797685938484-601: Was the scene of a small scale riot, when a Pantera concert was cancelled at the last minute, because of a city ordinance that had just gone into effect, requiring seating on the floor, which the band felt created an unsafe situation for the fans and themselves. Notable other events from Hirsch Memorial Coliseum includes Miss USA and Miss Teen USA with the latter pageant held for four occasions. 32°28′36″N 93°47′22″W / 32.476652°N 93.789477°W / 32.476652; -93.789477 Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were
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