U.S. Bank Arena (originally known as the Riverfront Coliseum and later known as The Crown and the Firstar Center) is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio near the Ohio River. Completed in 1975, the arena seats 12,823 for ice hockey. It was the home of the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA from 1975-1979. Since then, the arena has hosted other minor-league hockey teams and various concerts, political rallies and other events. The facility's longest-serving tenant was the men's basketball program of the University of Cincinnati, which used the arena from its completion until 1993, when UC built an on-campus facility now known as Fifth Third Arena. The building was heavily renovated in 1997, and is still in use.
On December 3, 1979, the arena was the site of one of the worst rock concert tragedies in United States history. Eleven fans were killed and several dozen others injured in a mass of fans trying to get into a sold-out concert by The Who. The tragedy was blamed on poor crowd control, mainly the failure of arena management to open enough doors to deal with the crowd outside.
When we last left RiverfrontColiseum in March, Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament officials were complaining about the building's decrepit conditions, asking for improvements before the tournament.
In its checkered past, the former Coliseum owners were busted for steeling electricity, bathrooms routinely overflowed and the concession stand options were minimal with patrons complaining of grumpy service.
RiverfrontColiseum was purchased last February for $21 million by an investment group headed by Cyclones owner Doug Kirchhofer.
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