U.S. Cellular Coliseum is not the first coliseum in Bloomington history.

From 1898 until 1961, there was an impressively sized, field house-type structure known simply as the Coliseum (this was before the era of corporate naming rights).

In its 62-plus-year history, the old Coliseum, located at Front Street and Roosevelt Avenue, across from where its namesake now stands, played host to a dizzying array of entertainers and entertainments, running from highbrow to lowbrow to everything in between.

The architect was German-born, Bloomington-raised Paul O. Moratz, whose work included Carnegie libraries in El Paso, Fairbury and elsewhere. The Coliseum's framework of arching trusses eliminated the need for columns and rafters, creating a cavernous, armory-like hall with a ceiling nearly 60 feet in height. Capacity for stage events was said to be about 5,000.

On Dec. 27, 1898, a smaller-than-expected crowd of 1,200 attended the grand opening, which featured the Sousian sounds of Frederick Phinney's United States Band.

By the summer of 1899, the Coliseum's lease fell to theatrical promoter Frank O. Lathrop, formerly of New York, and Bloomington's Arthur J. Graves. They spent an impressive sum refurbishing the interior to make it more theater-friendly. Lathrop then organized the Coliseum Theatre Company, whose 1899-1900 schedule included long-forgotten, late-Victorian plays with titles like "A Gilded Fool," "The Sporting Duchess," "An American Heiress" and "A Bachelor's Romance."

The building also hosted less-than-edifying events. In December 1903, Rucker's Korak Wonder Co., a traveling patent medicine show, set up shop for an entire week. Patrons were treated to plays such as "Ten Nights in a Bar Room" and "Sappho" in the hope they would buy a package or two of Rucker's Korak Wonder, a remedy for tapeworms and other intestinal parasites. "Rheumatic cripples treated at each performance free," read one announcement.

The Coliseum's early years coincided with an era of public oratory, when politicians, reformers and ministers toured the country, lecturing before thousands of people in cities large and small. For example, William Jennings Bryan appeared there in 1899, Clarence Darrow in 1910, and Will Rogers in 1928.

Back in April 1910, an advertisement for Charles A. Towne, the so-called "Cicero of the Senate," promised ticket buyers "a witchery of word painting."

The same month as Towne's appearance, the Coliseum hosted a dog show that ended with rat terriers displaying their prowess by killing caged rats. "The contest was a lively and exciting one and greatly enjoyed by a large crowd," The Pantagraph noted.

Not all events, of course, were so tawdry. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra played the Coliseum, as did famed soprano Amelita Galli-Curci, who performed selections from Verdi's "La Traviata" and Donizetti's "Lucia."

Events at the Coliseum not only reflected the riches of European high culture, but also the riches of the surrounding Central Illinois countryside.

In 1915 and 1916, workmen transformed the Coliseum into the "Corn Palace." They covered the facade with a wooden framework, which was then garishly decorated with thousands of ears of corn, baled alfalfa, pumpkins, corn stalks and Sudan grass. Inside, visitors gawked at corn-related exhibits and vaudeville entertainers.

Horse breeders' sales were also staged in the Coliseum, with locals often calling the building the "horse barn."

During the Jazz Age of the 1920s, the Coliseum offered roller skating and played host to dance bands. By 1933, H. Dean Litt turned the roller rink into a swanky ballroom with a black-and-white decor. Duke Ellington, Cab Callaway and other jazz greats played during Litt's all-too-brief tenure, which ended in 1935.

In 1938, Pat Harkins purchased the building and turned it into a 12-lane bowling alley. "Bowl for recreation!" Harkins declared. "It clears the cobwebs from your brain, makes you forget work-a-day cares, peps you up!"

The venerable old horse barn fell to the wrecking ball on April 19, 1961, and the flattened block became home to a car dealership.