Prather Coliseum is a 3,900-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; , ), officially the City of Natchitoches, is a small city in, and the parish seat of, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the city's population was ...

, United States. It opened in 1964 and is home to the

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville, Louisiana, Leesville/Fort Jo ...

Demons

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

.Prather Coliseum
at nsudemons.com, URL accessed November 17, 2009
Archived
11/17/09 The arena also holds concerts and events. It was named in honor of the school's most successful basketball and football coach, H. Lee Prather, who served from the 1910s through the 1940s before becoming NSU President in 1951.

History

The coliseum is among projects credited to the late

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Sylvan Friedman of

Natchitoches Parish Natchitoches Parish ( or ) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 37,515. The parish seat and most populous municipality is Nat ...

. It opened two years before Friedman's retirement.Friedman Student Union
at facilityuse.nsula.edu, URL accessed November 17, 2009
Archived
11/17/09 Prather Coliseum is also known as the venue for the final concert performed by rock star

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American Folk music, folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of o ...

on Thursday, September 20, 1973. Shortly after the concert, Croce's plane crashed shortly after takeoff from

Natchitoches Regional Airport Natchitoches Regional Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) south of the central business district of Natchitoches, a parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Although most U.S. ...

, killing him and all others aboard the plane.Jim Croce
at vegasvalleycomputers.biz, URL accessed November 17, 2009

11/17/09 The arena hosted the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

men's basketball tournament in 2005–06.Northwestern State Wins Men's O'Reilly Auto Parts/SLC Tournament Title
at southland.org, URL accessed November 17, 2009
Archived
11/17/2009

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the nam ...

women's basketball player Keiva Council set the single-game scoring record in the building with 48 points in an 84–80 Wolfpack victory over Northwestern State on November 25, 2011.

References

College basketball venues in Louisiana College volleyball venues in the United States Sports venues in Natchitoches, Louisiana Volleyball venues in Louisiana Northwestern State Demons basketball Northwestern State Lady Demons basketball Northwestern State Lady Demons volleyball Music venues in Louisiana Northwestern State University buildings and structures 1964 establishments in Louisiana Sports venues completed in 1964 {{Louisiana-stadium-stub

History

See also

References