250 Baker St. | map |
Opened: The first Coliseum Rink opened January 23, 1907. It was on the east side of Baker St. between Oak and Fell. This view looking southeast from Fell and Baker Streets is a sketch by the architect published in Billboard on May 11, 1907. The initial building was destroyed by fire in 1909. A replacement building opened in 1910.
Architect: Philip
Schwerdt designed the first building. In an article in the March 16, 1907 issue of Engineering
Record that's reproduced below they noted that J.H. Christie was
the "engineer of construction for the San Francisco Architectural and Engineering Agency."
On November 18, 1906, the SF Call published the sketch above the caption "IMMENSE STRUCTURE TO BE ERECTED IMMEDIATELY NEAR THE PARK PANHANDLE" with this copy:
"New York's Madison Square Garden Building Will Be Duplicated at Park Panhandle - Mammoth Structure Is to Be Erected at Once - A roof garden, skating pavilion and convention hall building to be erected at the eastern end of the Park panhandle will be finished and opened to the public' in the latter part of next month. The structure will be called the Coliseum and will be an almost complete reproduction of Madison Square Garden in New York. It is estimated to cost $125,000 and will be modernly equipped in every particular.
"The Coliseum Amusement Company, which has been organized as a corporation with large capitalization, is backing the enterprise. The building will rise at the end of the block opposite the Panhandle and will extend 275 feet on Baker street. 225 feet on Oak and 225 on Fell. The architect is Philip Schwerdt and the manager D. M. Moses. The mammoth skating rink of triple flooring will measure 235 by 185 feet; surrounded by a bank of 8000 seats, which may be reserved. No benches will be used. A roof garden of Japanese architecture will extend along the Baker street side and will be thirty five feet wide and 275 feet long.
"A band platform on cables will hold an orchestra of forty pieces. George H. Bennett has been engaged as baton wielder. A stage for vaudeville purposes, on which the bills will be changed each week, will be a feature. An eighty-four-foot tower, surmounted by a powerful searchlight, will crown the building, while on the Fell street side an automobile garage and runway will be built. The entire structure will be elaborately lighted. Among the promoters are Gustav Mann, proprietor of the Hotel Majestic; Dr. W. B. Lewitt, Sol Lewin, Isaac Grant and Attorney Franklin."
The publication Architect and Engineer of California had published this earlier sketch in its issue of August 10, 1906, just a few months after the catastrophic earthquake and fire of April, 1906. The design was later modified.
Though no photos of this first Coliseum have yet been discovered, the Examiner published Schwerdt's pre-construction sketch a few weeks after the arena opened, in its February coverage of an automobile show opening that day.
San Francisco's Emanu-El newspaper described opening night in its January 25, 1907 edition, located by Art Siegel on the California Digital Newspaper Collection website:
"OPENING OF THE COLISEUM. Wednesday night witnessed the opening of the largest skating rink west of Chicago. It was a magnificent sight to see the fifteen hundred skaters making their graceful evolutions under the glare of the five thousand electric lights. The electrical display is truly the feature of this institution. The design of the fixtures are stars, the center piece being a representation of the American flag, encased in a star of electric lights.
"The hardwood floor, 275 by 250 feet, was pronounced to be the best floor of any skating rink in San Francisco. An excellent band of music discoursed popular airs throughout the evening. Soft refreshments of all kinds were served to patrons. The tea garden, located in the gallery, is an exact reproduction of the illuminated tea gardens of Japan. The ceiling is decorated with hundreds of magnificent Japanese lanterns, in each of which is an electric light. Between the tables cherry trees are to be seen in blossom. On the whole it may be said of the tea garden that it is the most unique feature of the entire establishment.
"The Coliseum is located on Baker Street, between Fell and Oak Streets, facing the Panhandle of the Park. It is under the management of D. M. Moses, the president of the company."
John Freeman comments:
"The Coliseum was one of 6 roller skating rinks built in the 6 months
after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Rollerskating was hugely popular in
England and in the US. But with so many rinks, and with a decline in
interest pretty quickly in 1907, all these rinks became multi-use
auditoriums, lecture halls, political rallies, boxing matches and places
for fraternal or other organization events such as the Police Ball.
"It was a bit of an albatross. After its original use
as a rollerskating rink, it had a second use as a rental hall. But as
the city rebuilt after the earthquake and fire, it was out of the city's
social cores, and as an out-of-the-way hall, had competition from other
halls closer to where the social action was."
The March 16, 1907 Engineering Record (Vol. 55, No. 11, p. 348) reported on the technical details of the ten 170 foot transverse roof trusses used in the construction. The article, as reproduced on Google Books:
Destruction of the first Coliseum Rink
Early in the morning of November 20, 1909, the rink caught fire and was destroyed, along with almost every building on the block. The Examiner, in its edition of that day, described the scene witnessed by 10,000:
"COLISEUM AND ENTIRE BLOCK FIRE SWEPT - Hall and 11 Adjoining Houses Destroyed in Early Morning Blaze in Oak Street. 10,000 WATCH FLAMES - Thousands Rush Out in Night Clothes; Entire City Is Aroused by Blaze.
"In a terrific fire, supposed to have been started by a cigarette thrown aside by a skater, the Coliseum and eleven adjacent houses, representing an investment of $200,000, were wiped out at an early hour this morning, while 10,000 persons stood by. They were spectators to the thrilling Rescue of a mother and her baby, who were carried from the second story while the flames wrapped the building. Just after the first alarm several explosions were heard by the residents of the neighborhood. Their origin or significance is not known.
"When the fire was first discovered by residents in that section, the body of the huge building was a mass of flames, hiding both the source and location of its origin. The headway the fire had gained when the first report was turned into the fire department made it impossible to save any part of the structure. Already the flames were leaping over the smaller houses adjoining. The residents had taken flight in their night-robes, and emergency squads rushed to their aid in saving a small part of the furniture. Ten flats along Oak street, numbering from 1223 to 1233, were destroyed.
"Ten thousand persons, routed from their beds in the heart of the residence district, lined the streets for blocks watching the brilliant spectacle of the night, With its series of thrilling incidents involving the heroic rescue of a mother and her baby and the attempted rescue of eight horses which were burned in their stable. At 2:30 o'clock the first alarm was turned in, followed by four more in startling succession. This raised the entire city from its sleep. Over the sky near Golden Gate Park a baleful glare was spread, growing with the intensity and spread of the fire, until the city for blocks around the center of the burned district were alight. The people rushed terror-stricken from their homes.
"When the first engine arrived 2,000 had gathered in advance. The rumor was spread that the watchman of the building was a victim of the flames. It only served to arouse the fever of the crowd. In the adjoining houses frantic attempts to save the household goods were made. Suddenly the alarm was sounded that Mrs. Harry Conroy, 1234 Oak street, with a baby in her arms, had been abandoned in the burning house. Already the flames were licking over the roof and the windows shattered with the heat.
"In the excitement she had been forgotten by the other inmates of the house. A bystander, Frank Kafee, rushed forward to her rescue, calling loudly for volunteers. Patrolman Gable grasped his arm and together they pushed their way through the fumes and flames up the stairs of the little home. As they disappeared across the threshhold the opening was blocked by a ball of fire that swept out into the street.
"With handkerchiefs over their faces, the two men plunged up the stairs, drawn to the room of the mother by the groans of the woman, who despaired of rescue and was rocking in the hysteria of fear. In the meantime the firemen had raised their ladders to the second floor, and when Kafee and Gable appeared at an upper window with their burden of mother and baby the ladder was instantly set and the heroes and their charge lowered to safety. So thrilling was the incident and intense the excitement and interest that not a sound escaped the crowds that pushed closer, realizing the daring of the rescue. When the men appeared in the window the entire crowd shouted, showering them with congratulations.
"In the stable belonging to B. Putney, 1236 Oak street, eight horses were tied. Putney was not aroused until the flames had already swept over the barn. With several friends, Putney rushed into the building where the homes were screaming. In their fright the halters could not be loosened. The men were forced to leave them to the flames, sustaining severe burns in the attempted rescue. The ten houses along Oak street that were licked out, and the house at 1314 Page street, which was also destroyed, represented a total valuation of $30,000. The extent of their insurance is unknown."
An account of the fire was also published in the publication Fire And Water Engineering Vol. 46, p. 499 (1909), located on Google Books by Art Siegel:
"Fire in San Francisco. Occupying a site 275x240 feet, at the corner of Baker and Fell streets. San Francisco, Cal., the Coliseum building, a one-story structure about three years old, of wood and plaster construction, recently made over into a skating rink, was discovered on fire, on the night of November 20. The cause of the fire is unknown, nor is it known in what part of the building the fire originated. That it had had time to gain considerable headway is, however, evident. The condition of the building when the first apparatus arrived, ac cording to our correspondent, was a mass of flames.
"The building was about three years old. and having no fire protection, was a ready prey for the flames. Chief Dougherty, realizing that he had a dangerous job on hand, hurried a large firefighting force to his aid. It consisted of 21 steamer companies, 5 hook and ladder companies. a Monitor battery company, and chemical engine company. Nineteen of the steamers were of the American La-France make and the other 2 Amoskeag. In the immediate vicinity there were 2 five-inch and 21 four-inch hydrants, set about 250 ft. apart. To make most of the engines available it was necessary to lay 16,000 ft. of hose, not one length of which caused any trouble from bursting.
"The water supply was furnished by gravity through an 8-inch main, giving a pressure of 50 pounds at the hydrants. This dropped considerably when some of the engines commenced throwing water, so that not all of the 21 engine streams were fully effective. The only nozzles used were the regular shut-off department pattern of 138-inch diameter. It did not take long for the building to be eaten up with the raging flames, but Chief Dougherty kept the fire down to the building in which it originated. From the intense heat emitted and flying sparks, it was doubtful at one time if greater damage would not result, but the steady streams had the desired effect, and when all out was rung in, the loss of the building, now a mass of smouldering ruins, was set down at $100,000."
The Second Coliseum
The following April construction was under way and the Call reported on the project in its April 10, 1910 edition:
"Coliseum Will Be Commodious Public Building, Seating 15,000 Persons. The Coliseum, now being erected at Baker, Fell and Oak streets, when completed will be one of the most commodious public buildings in the city. The actual floor space adaptable for public conventions and gatherings will be 61,875 square feet, absolutely unobstructed by any columns or devices that would obstruct the view. The height of the ceiling will be 34 feet from the floor.
"Great attention has been paid to the ventilation and acoustics. The structure will have a seating capacity of 15,000. The floor space will be the largest in the world. The floor will be covered by three separate floors. The top floor will be of 2 1/2 inch maple which, when surfaced, can be used for dancing or skating. The building will be finished and opened to the public on May 21."
Architect: None of the articles about the replacement building seem to offer any data. The guess is that they just went back to Philip
Schwerd's 1906 plans. Art Siegel comments: "I have not found any reference to the architect of the new building, but I wouldn't be surprised if they just used the same one, or same plans, as it seems identical minus the exterior towers, etc."
City inspectors intervened when the rink was nearing completion, as the May 10, 1910 Call reported:
"COLISEUM MANAGEMENT SHIES AT FLOORING COST - The management of the new Coliseum building at Oak and Baker streets has clashed with Chief Inspector Morgan of the city's board of works. Construction is again proceeding on the great wooden frame, but no flooring is to be laid until Horgan's demand that the building be "rat proofed" by a concrete layer underneath the whole structure be satisfied.
"Horgan stopped the work last week, but later let it proceed on this understanding. The Coliseum people hope to convince the federal health authorities that to concrete the whole basement floor is an unnecessary expense, and they have suggested a border instead and other substitutes, but Horgan says the law is explicit and must be met."
At last, in September 1910, behind schedule, The Coliseum prepared to reopen in grand style, hosting the Pacific Coast Electrical Exposition, as the September 14th Call reported:
"TAME THUNDERBOLT TO BE ON EXHIBIT - Vast Scheme of Illumination Principal Feature of Big Show - Booths in New Coliseum Are in Readiness for the Grand Opening. Two incidents of world wide interest will mark the opening of the Pacific Coast electrical exposition at the Coliseum next Saturday night. For the. first time in the history, of the world a great electrical exposition will be opened, the lights turned on and the machinery set in motion by wireless from some distant point not yet decided upon. It is hoped that Colonel Roosevelt or some other prominent national citizen will consent to speed the wireless spark.
"The other event of world wide interest is that this will be the first time that the new 500 watt Tungsten lamps will be-used in such a vast scheme of illumination. They have only recently appeared on the market and this is the first occasion for their use in the lighting of a large interior. Some of the exhibits are already in place on the floor of the new Coliseum. The building is only just completed by the contractors and the wiring is not yet finished, but the booths are in readiness and. practically every inch of the 61,875 square feet of floor space has been taken. Throughout the entire area no pillars or visible supports obstruct the view, as the roof is trussed throughout. It is the largest building of its kind in the world.
"Over 5,000 incandescent lamps will be used in an independent system entirely separate from the illumination consequent upon the regular lamp displays. Six great searchlights will also be used, as well as the beautiful 500 watt Tungsten lamps recently patented. By this evening it is expected that the greater portion of the exhibits will be in place. The wireless telephone booth is being invitingly fitted up for the entertainment of guests. They will be provided with pocket phones by means of which they will be enabled to listen to concerts in various down town cafes."
The poster for the event appearing in The Call.
This March 1911 photo of the 2nd Coliseum Rink collected by Martin Behrman appears on the Open SF History Project
website. It's from the archives of the Golden Gate National Recreation
Area. We're looking northeast at the Baker St. side of the building with
Oak St. on the right and Fell St. at the far left. The photo is also on
the San Francisco Public Library website, which dates it as circa 1912.
From June 20 to 27, 1911 the 13th International Sunday School Convention was held in San Francisco. This was a parent group for the Gideon Society. The event culminated with a huge parade from downtown out Fulton St. then over to Fell St. with each man carrying a Gideon Bible, which they heaped at the podium in the building. Then they had their rally to get a volunteer army to make sure a Gideon Bible was placed in every hotel room in 'heathen' San Francisco.
A photo of the 1,000 voice chorus performing as part of the Convention, from the June 20, 1911 Call:
A new maple floor was installed and a grand reopening to skating was advertised in the November 18, 1911 Call:
The California Outlook of September 21, 1912 (located on Google Books by Art Siegel) reported on Teddy Roosevelt's appearance at the Coliseum during his 1912 presidential campaign: "The two most remarkable meetings were of course those in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Both of these meetings had to be held in places far out from the center of the city, because there were no halls close-in large enough. The Coliseum in San Francisco is a huge structure, 225 feet long and nearly as wide, located at the entrance to the park used generally as a skating rink.
"Chairs could be packed into it to seat perhaps eleven or twelve thousand people, but San Francisco could not for the moment supply that number of chairs of the sort required by the police regulations, so that perhaps half of the huge audience of about 15,000 people had to stand during the entire time. Colonel Roosevelt did not arrive until after nine o'clock, and the audience had been waiting since early evening, amusing itself with singing and shouting. Yet there was energy enough left in that audience for cheering that was absolutely stunning to those who from the speaker's platform looked down on the scene."
The replacement building appears on the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map:
The map from the Library of Congress Archive was located by Art Siegel.
A c.1910 photo on the Open SF History Project website
looking north from nearby Buena Vista Park shows the rink on Baker
Street (at center right), with the Golden Gate Park Panhandle to the
left. This was added here by Art Siegel.
A closeup from the circa 1910 photo.
In this detail of the preceding c.1915 photo, the streetcar on Oak Street can be seen at the Baker intersection in front of the rink.
The Coliseum advertised in the 1913 San Francisco Blue Book. Spotted on Google Books by Art Siegel.
"SKATING BEAR AT RINK DOES MANY ODD TRICKS - 'Lady Livingstone,' Fresh From Yellowstone, Can Cut Capers Just like Humans Do - Lady Livingstone is a 'bear' in every sense of the word. She's a bear by nature and a 'bear' on skates, which can easily be seen by watching her perform at the Coliseum rink. She skates about and cuts all-sorts of fancy figures like a real lady, notwithstanding her size and appearance of clumsiness.
"She has arrived straight from Yellowstone park, and she seems to enjoy life on the wheels and waxed floors immensely. She goes without a muzzle, and usually smiles when asked how she learned the 'dizzy Issy' glide. Each afternoon and evening the bear may be seen whirling about and showing mere boys and girls how little they know about the art of skating."
"The Coliseum building, on the corner of Baker, Oak and Fell streets, has been leased by Wolf & Co. for the account of Melville Toplitz et al., for a period of years to a local syndicate, which contemplates making extensive improvements to the building and conducting various amusement enterprises, among them being the construction of a saucer bicycle track. Dancing, boxing and wrestling contests will also be staged. Lease on private terms."
Some of the improvements were reported in the March 3, 1919 Call, which also alluded to the transportation issues in getting fans to this fairly remote location:
"Parente Is Doing Things Up Right - FIGHT fans will be greatly surprised tomorrow night when they see what Louis Parente has done in converting the Coliseum into a fight arena. Louis says that the total cost of the work will be about $8000, and nobody will doubt his word. The new bleachers, which extend clear around the inside of the building, are of two inch planks, guaranteed strong enough to hold up twenty times more weight than they will ever be required to hold.
"The ring is directly in the center of the arena and will be illuminated by four arc lights, while the gong will probably be over the ring, 'elevated' —an innovation in timekeeping. The building will have at least six exits, all of them on the ends with the exception of the main exit and entrance, which is on the side.
"Louis states that from the Coliseum to the ferry building is but a nineteen minute ride, and that the car company has agreed to provide additional cars on fight nights; in addition to this the jitney men have agreed to provide all the 'jits' necessary from the downtown section to the Coliseum for a fare of 10 cents a person. Looks to me after an inspection of conditions that 'Louis de Parent' is in a fair way to furnish the Allied promoters all the competition they are looking for."
The May 19, 1919 San Francisco Call advertised a night of boxing matches at the rink.
On December 21, 1920 The Coliseum hosted a wrestling match, as advertised in The Call. In these years, the building was mostly used for boxing and other sports events, including basketball, track and field and tennis.
"Investigation is being made today by the Board of Public Works as to the condition of the old Coliseum building, 250 Baker street, following protests by fifty residents of the Park Panhandle district against the granting of a permit to conduct a skating rink there."
In late December, skating began after a long hiatus.
This February 7, 1922 Call ad showed that Roller Skating was still happening at the rink, but the February 21 Call reported that "The board refused to renew the skating rink license of the Coliseum, 250 Baker Street."
This February 1922 photo from the Open SF History Project site shows the Coliseum from Buena Vista Park. It's contributed here by Art Siegel.
A detail from the February 1922 photo.
The
March 18, 1922 Call ran this ad for a 4 week stand at "The Coliseum" by
"America's Most Noted Woman Evangelist," faith healer Aimee Sample McPherson.
In June 1922, The Call reported on a new plan for the site:
"A $1,000,000 Masonic temple will be reared on the site of the old Coliseum, Baker
and Fell streets, if plans being matured today are carried out. The
Board of directors of the California bodies of the Scottish Rite Free
Masons have been authorized to purchase that property and proceed with
the construction."
Nothing seems to have come of this plan.
A season of basketball teams sponsored by business firms (the Industrial Basketball Tournament) was announced for Tuesday and Wednesday nights starting November 7, 1922 by The Call.
A Disabled American Veterans benefit was held there on November 11 and 12, 1922. It's an ad from The Call.
College basketball played into the next year, with St. Mary's and Santa Clara concluding a series at The Coliseum on March 1, 1923, according to the Oakland Tribune.
Closing: The final report of the building's use, in the Chronicle on March 25th, was when it was rented in March 1923 for dance and ballet rehearsals for an upcoming April 1923 Shriners pageant at the Civic Auditorium.
Demolition took place in the Fall of 1923, as evidenced by these classified ads in the Chronicle which began running in October:
Status: There was a gas station on the site afterwards. The California DMV established a large office and parking lot on the site in the 1960s, which is still in operation.
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