Blackham Coliseum

Blackham Coliseum
Tenants

Location	444 Cajundome Boulevard Lafayette, Louisiana 70506
Owner	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Operator	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Capacity	Official: 5,500 Concerts: 9,800
Surface	Concrete
Opened	1950
Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (NCAA) (1950–1985) Acadiana Mudbugs (SIFL) (2009) Louisiana IceGators (SPHL) (2009–2010)

Blackham Coliseum is a multipurpose arena in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was built on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus in 1949 as the home to the then-named SLI Bulldogs, now called the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball teams. The arena was named for Stafford Morgan Blackham, former dean of the Department of Animal Husbandry at SLI, and as such it was built to host livestock exhibitions as well as athletics (in a similar manner to the usage of LSU's Parker Coliseum).^[1] It replaced the 1,500-seat Earl K. Long Gymnasium as home to the athletics teams. It remained the home for the men's team until the Cajundome was completed in 1984. The women continue to play the majority of their games at Earl K. Long. Blackham hosted the Southland Conference men's basketball tournament in 1982.

In the 1960s, it became popular as a venue for pop concerts where acts like The Supremes, James Brown and Jackie Wilson. The Supremes played to soldout audiences on their "Symphony Tour 1965".

Today it is still in use, seating 5,500 for basketball and up to 9,800 for concerts. It also features 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) of space at the main arena, with two barns adding 46,500 square feet (4,300 m²) of space. Altogether, the three buildings can also be used for trade shows, rodeos and conventions. It was home to the Acadiana Mudbugs of the Southern Indoor Football League for their 2009 season, and in fall 2009, the revived Louisiana IceGators began play there as a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League.^[2]

In April 2009, the venue held its first heavy metal concert, the 2009 No Fear Music Tour featuring Lamb Of God, As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom, God Forbid and Municipal Waste.

The venue serves as home to the Grammy-styled, annual Le Cajun Music Awards Festival held every August by the Cajun French Music Association, an association of Cajun music enthusiasts for the preservation of the Cajun music, language, heritage and culture.

References

↑ L UL Lafayette: About Us: University History: Buildings Archived March 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Foote, Kevin (May 15, 2009). "IceGators to skate again; join the discussion". Lafayette Daily Advertiser. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

External links

Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission - Blackham Coliseum

Coordinates: 30°12′38″N 92°01′59″W / 30.210554°N 92.033122°W / 30.210554; -92.033122

Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball

Venues	Earl K. Long Gymnasium (1939–1950) Blackham Coliseum (1950–1985) Cajundome (1985–present)

Culture & lore	Cayenne "Ragin' Cajuns Fight Song" NCAA sanctions

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Southern Professional Hockey League

Teams	Columbus Cottonmouths Evansville Thunderbolts Fayetteville FireAntz Huntsville Havoc Knoxville Ice Bears Louisiana IceGators (suspended) Macon Mayhem Mississippi RiverKings Pensacola Ice Flyers Peoria Rivermen Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs

Arenas	Berglund Center (Rail Yard Dawgs) Cajundome (IceGators) Carver Arena (Rivermen) Columbus Civic Center (Cottonmouths) Cumberland County Crown Coliseum (FireAntz) Ford Center (Thunderbolts) Landers Center (RiverKings) Macon Coliseum (Mayhem) James White Civic Coliseum (Ice Bears) Pensacola Bay Center (Ice Flyers) Von Braun Center (Havoc)

Seasons	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

President's Cup William B. Coffey Trophy Other professional hockey leagues

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