The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum
(also known as the LJVM Coliseum, the Joel Coliseum, or just simply "the Joel") is a 14,407-seat multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Construction on the arena began on April 23, 1987 and it opened on August 28, 1989. It was named after Lawrence Joel, an Army medic from Winston-Salem who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967 for action in Vietnam on November 8, 1965. The memorial was designed by James Ford in New York, and includes the poem "The Fallen" engraved on an interior wall. It is home to the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons men's basketball and women's basketball teams, and is adjacent to the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds. The arena replaced the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, which was torn down for the LJVM Coliseum's construction.
|
WINSTON-SALEM ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS COMPLEX (FORMERLY LAWRENCE JOEL VETERANS MEMORIAL COLISEUM) TICKETS
|
Events
This list is incomplete; you can help by [ expanding it]
.
Basketball
The LJVM is home to the
Wake Forest University Men's and Women's basketball teams,but other basketball games are held there, such as the
Frank Spencer Holiday Classic basketball tournament, an annual event for high school basketball teams in the area. Since 2003, the LJVM has hosted the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Western Regional Basketball Tournaments. The NCHSAA state individual wrestling championships are also contested in the LJVM.
The LJVM was the site of the
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) basketball tournament from 1994-1999. Also, the first and second rounds of the
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship have been held at the coliseum three times (1997, 2000 and 2007).
In a memorable NCAA second-round game at the coliseum on March 15,
1997,
North Carolina gave head coach
Dean Smith victory number 877, surpassing
Kentucky legend
Adolph Rupp as the winningest college basketball coach in history.
The
Harlem Globetrotters have even played there.
Concerts
The LJVM's amply large size makes it an ideal location for performers who wish to perform at smaller venues. The LJVM has hosted many big names over the years; a few of them include
- Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
- Phish-this was one of the few venues played in 1994 that remained in rotation throughout much of the 1990s.
- Gretchen Wilson
- Cher
- The Dixie Chicks
- Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson
- Elton John
- Fantasia Barrino
- High School Musical: The Concert
- Lil Wayne
- Dave Matthews Band
- Billy Joel
- Garth Brooks played four sold-out shows at the arena March 25-28, 1998. The first three Brooks shows sold out in three hours, an LJVM record at the time
The main arena can also be curtained off to create a theater-like setting.
Other events
The LJVM has played host to large-scale events such as the quarterfinals of the
2007 Davis Cup, but has also hosted
racing,
bull riding,
wrestling,
circus, religious conferences, conventions and other events.
Coliseum Complex
In addition to its main arena, the LJVM also has an
Annex; it seats about 4,000, and is used primarily for hockey, but also for basketball, concerts, trade shows, and other events. The
Winston-Salem State University Rams play basketball in the annex. The annex is also home to the
SPHL Twin City Cyclones who will play their first season in Winston Salem starting in October 2007. There is also an Education Building available for additional floor space; both buildings are technically located on the
Dixie Classic Fairgrounds.
Ernie Shore Field, a baseball stadium, is also considered part of the complex.
Bowman Gray Stadium, though not in the vicinity, is technically part of the complex as well. All these buildings combined make up the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex, which, with the exception of Bowman Gray Stadium is bordered by University Parkway, 27th Street, Deacon Boulevard, and Shorefair Drive. A
new ballpark is being constructed to replace Ernie Shore Field in downtown at the intersection of
Business 40 and
North Carolina Highway 150.