The Taft Coliseum is a 5,003-permanent seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectato ...

located at the

Ohio Expo Center and State Fairgrounds The Ohio Expo Center and State Fairgrounds is an exhibition center and fairground site, located in Columbus, Ohio. The site has been home to the Ohio State Fair since 1886. Attributes The fairgrounds site includes numerous fair buildings: the Bric ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

History

It opened in 1918 and is nicknamed "The Barn". The facility hosted the

1929 NCAA Wrestling Championships The 1929 NCAA Wrestling Championships were the 2nd NCAA Wrestling Championships to be held. Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio hosted the tournament at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum. Oklahoma A&M Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧ ...

. The Coliseum has become a legendary and traditional high school

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

venue. It hosted

OHSAA The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of compe ...

central district and regional playoffs in boys' High School basketball until 2013, when the Central District Athletic Board opted to move games to Ohio Dominican University. During each fall and winter the Coliseum is also home to CAHA youth hockey. It was also once home to the Ohio State University men's basketball team,

Columbus Horizon The Columbus Horizon is a defunct basketball team from Columbus, Ohio that played for five seasons in the Continental Basketball Association from 1989 to 1994. History Plans to bring professional basketball to Columbus were unveiled in September ...

CBA basketball team, Columbus Thunderbolts

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

team, and the Columbus Stars and

Columbus Chill The Columbus Chill were a professional ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League from October 1991 through the 1998–99 season. They played at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio. The Chill left Columbus in 1999 an ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

teams. The Barn was renovated in 2005 to include new scoreboards, the addition of shot clocks above the backboards, a fresh coat of paint, and new rest rooms. On July 28, 2010, the Coliseum was renamed to honor

Bob Taft Robert Alphonso Taft III (born January 8, 1942) is an American politician and attorney, who served as the 67th governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007 as a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Taft political dynasty, Taft served first in ...

, the 67th Governor of Ohio.

References

External links

Ohio Expo Center
Arena football venues Basketball venues in Columbus, Ohio College wrestling venues in the United States Continental Basketball Association venues Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in Columbus, Ohio Indoor ice hockey venues in Ohio Ohio State Buckeyes sports venues Sports venues in Columbus, Ohio Wrestling venues in Ohio 1918 establishments in Ohio Sports venues completed in 1908 {{ColumbusOH-sports-venue-stub