Kevin Scheibler, the Alliant Energy Center’s executive director, first laid eyes on the Coliseum in the summer of 1990, when he made a trip to the city for a job interview.
“And I will never forget the feeling I had when I pulled off the Beltline on John Nolen Drive and got to the stoplight at Rimrock Road. To my left was the Coliseum and I was amazed at how impressive it was in person,” Scheibler told county leaders last Thursday. “And while the exterior is still very impressive, the interior is not. And we no longer host the events that make the community excited. You have the opportunity to change that.”
Built in 1967, the county’s entertainment and event space is closing in on its sixtieth year. And it still hasn’t recovered from the pandemic-era lows. The Coliseum has hosted around 44 events per year for the past three years, Scheibler shared. Pre-2020, it usually exceeded 100 events per year…