Venue: El Paso County Coliseum
Town: El Paso, US
Capacity: 5,250

El Paso County Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in El Paso, Texas, United States. It opened on May 21, 1942 and was built originally to support a rodeo and livestock show, but later expanded to cater other types of events. A variety of events that have been held at the Coliseum have included hockey, high school graduations, basketball, boxing, circus, concerts, dog shows, flower shows, Ice capades, roller derby, wrestling and more. In addition to events, the Coliseum was also used to temporarily house prisoners of war, braceros and the Texas State Guard. The El Paso County Coliseum was originally built to host rodeo events in the city of El Paso. The original plan for the building, which was backed by El Paso County, and could be supported by a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant, estimated that it would cost $100,000. The final cost for the building was $321,000. The building's architect was Percy McGhee. At first it was called the "El Paso County Live Stock & Agricultural Exhibition Building," or referred to as the "Livestock Exposition Building." It is located in South El Paso, near Washington Park. When it was dedicated, it was the largest coliseum between Los Angeles, Fort Worth and Denver. Behind the main coliseum, which was equipped with an air-cooling system, are several livestock buildings. The building was dedicated on May 21, 1942 in a party that drew local farmers and El Paso business people together for a barbecue dinner that also celebrated "Cotton Week." The dedication barbecue dinner cost $1 per person. The event featured actors playing characters such as "King Cotton," Uncle Sam and "Miss America" who would be escorted by military color guard from Fort Bliss. The band from Bowie High School was on hand to play while attendees ate. The dedication event saw around 5000 attendees and the El Paso Times called it "an epoch in local history." Karl O. Wyler served as master of ceremonies. The first event the Coliseum hosted was the El P