The Uline Arena, later renamed the Washington Coliseum, was an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. located at 1132, 1140, and 1146 3rd Street, Northeast, Washington, D.C.

Venue: Uline Arena
Town: Washington, D.C., US

The Uline Arena, later renamed the Washington Coliseum, was an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. located at 1132, 1140, and 1146 3rd Street, Northeast, Washington, D.C. It was the site of one of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inaugural balls in 1953, the first concert by the Beatles in the United States in 1964, and several other memorable moments in sports, show business, politics and in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It had a capacity of over 8,000 people and was a major event space in Washington until the early 1970s. The arena was home to the Washington Capitols of the Basketball Association of America (1946-1949) and National Basketball Association (1949-1950), who were once coached by Red Auerbach. Later, the American Basketball Association's Washington Caps played there in 1969-1970. Once abandoned and used as a parking garage, it was renovated and now houses offices and REI's D.C. flagship store. It is directly adjacent to the railroad tracks heading into Union Station and bounded by L and M Street NE. It is located across from the Metrorail NoMa-Gallaudet U station southern entrance. Starting in 1938, the idea of building an arena in the area was under consideration. Michael (or Migiel or Miguel) J. Uline, president of Capitol Garden Corp., was considering it June of that year but was waiting on a decision by the local government on whether or not they were going to build an arena of their own at the intersection of 4th Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW. Michael Uline held 68 patents and was a successful businessman originally from the Netherlands. His parents decided to leave their home in the province of North Brabant due to numerous floodings in the area of the Maas river and the Uline family emigrated to the United States in 1890, when Michiel was 16 years old. His first business interests in the US revolved around the production and distribution of ice, and the site in Washington, in 1931, just south of the later Arena, was dedicated to ic