The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: News

Media Credit: COURTESY UGA BLOCK AND BRIDLE Stegeman Coliseum, originally named the Georgia Coliseum, was designed for agriculture and featured a show ring and auction ring. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: COURTESY UGA BLOCK AND BRIDLE Putting on an authentic rodeo required pounds of dirt on the floor of Stegeman, circulating dust and dirt around the coliseum. In 2003, the event was moved elsewhere. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: DANIEL SHIREY [Click to enlarge]

Stegeman Coliseum's colorful history involves demolition, construction, sports, the Olympics - and livestock.

Stegeman, originally known as Georgia Coliseum, was built in 1964 with three purposes -"agriculture, commencement ceremonies and basketball," said Rachel Patrick, rodeo chairman for UGA Block & Bridle. She said the construction was funded by four agricultural companies, and the coliseum's cornerstone dedicates the building to the use of agriculture.

"There used to be a show ring and auction ring where the annex now is," Patrick said.

In 1996, Georgia Coliseum was dedicated to Coach Herman James Stegeman. The name was chosen to "honor a distinguished Georgia man," said assistant athletic director Charles Whittemore in a telephone interview Friday.

Stegeman Hall, the former naval pool and "super gym" for the University, was demolished when the Ramsey Student Center was completed, said Nash Boney, professor emeritus of history.

"Now," Whittemore said, "you have a name that was out there." Though the dedication of Stegeman Coliseum occurred about the same time as the Olympics' stint in Athens, Whittemore said the two events were unrelated.

"It wasn't necessarily named for the Olympics," he said. "It was all of this that was happening around the same time."

The 1996 Olympics brought a new aspect to the coliseum - air conditioning. This new feature made the facility more up-to-date, but it created problems for the remaining agricultural event held annually at Stegeman, the Great Southland Stampede Rodeo.

"For one thing, you're bringing in this large event with all these animals," said Joe West, assistant dean for the University's Tifton campus, in a phone interview.

An authentic rodeo required Block & Bridle to bring in pounds of dirt to dump on the floor. But the air conditioning circulated the dust and dirt from the rodeo around the coliseum, he said.

Ralph Johnson, associate vice president for the Physical Plant, called the dust "significant."

"It built up in the air conditioning, lighting and scoreboard, and covered the seats," he said in a phone interview.

West said it became "increasingly difficult for those two activities to coexist."

In 2003, a decision was made to no longer allow the Great Southland Stampede Rodeo to be held in Stegeman Coliseum.

Johnson said the decision was made by the Provost and the Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration.

According to an April 2003 article in the Athens Banner-Herald, Provost Arnett Mace cited the reasons as dust from the rodeo being detrimental to the air conditioning and electronics, as well as the health of staff members. Johnson said he had no knowledge of these health problems, and Mace could not be reached for comment by Friday evening.

Boney said individuals in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences were a "little bit miffed" by the decision.

"They wanted to make the coliseum a strictly athletic arena," he said in a phone interview Friday, adding that over time the influence of agriculture has faded at the University, despite the fact that "the ag school had a big part in this."

West said Block & Bridle members even appeared before a Georgia General Assembly agricultural committee to plead their case.

"I think it was a very difficult decision," he said. "Regardless of [the decision], there would be dissatisfaction on one side or another."

"For those of us in agriculture, it was a difficult time," said West. "But as for [the administration] targeting against agriculture, I don't think that was the case."

Patrick said the rodeo was held for several years at Oconee Heritage Park after it left Stegeman. The new location forced the rodeo to downsize.

"The rodeo when it was at the coliseum was huge," she said in a phone interview Friday.

The rodeo made between $50,000 and $60,000 per year, and the proceeds funded the college's judging teams and conventions.

Patrick said that the rodeo was televised on ESPN during its stay in Stegeman. When it was at Oconee, "attendance went down a lot ... We couldn't get that many people or afford the same advertising."

When the rodeo returned to Athens, Patrick said they saw a $10,000 jump in ticket sales, as well as more local sponsor support. Now taking place at the Livestock Instructional Arena on South Milledge Avenue, the rodeo still has avid fans despite its smaller scale.

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