Archive Photos of the Day: Pacific Coliseum Construction
byIt was on this day, January 8, 1968 that the Pacific Coliseum opened in Vancouver.
Archive Photos of the Day:
Pacific Coliseum Construction
In honour of this, and the many concerts (from the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and David Bowie, to Hillary Duff – my niece loved that show), hockey games, PNE Super Dogs, and Olympic events the venue has hosted over the last five decades, here is a roundup of Pacific Coliseum Construction photos from the Vancouver Archives.
Jason Beck, BC Sports Hall of Fame Curator writes: “The $6 million Pacific Coliseum opens in Vancouver, seating 15,600 spectators. At the unveiling event, a Vancouver civic chaplain offered the prayer: ‘Please God, bring us the NHL.’ In 1969, the NHL granted Vancouver a franchise. The first event held in the new arena, the Ice Capades, takes place after the official ribbon cutting. With 15,600 seating, the largest arena in BC history when opened.”
On its 50th anniversary, John Mackie wrote a tribute to the Rink on Renfrew in the Vancouver Sun:
“It opened on Jan. 8, 1968, a 15,016-seat structure that cost $6 million to build (the equivalent of $42.5 million today). It was paid for by the Pacific National Exhibition, which tore down the old Dog and Cat building to make room for the new arena.
In an opening-day ad, the PNE boasted the Coliseum was “an exciting building for a great city,” and “one of the finest all-purpose exhibition and sports buildings on the west coast.”
The press were just as effusive. Lorne Parton of The Province hailed it as “sumptuous,” and The Sun’s Denny Boyd dubbed it “Vancouver’s own enchanted castle.”
Not everyone loved it, of course. It could be so quiet when the Vancouver Canucks were losing it was nicknamed “the Pacific mausoleum.” But in the main the “Rink on Renfrew” was popular with the masses.”
