Planning and construction

Planning for the coliseum began in 1985, when a city-sponsored study determined that the city could support a venue seating 10,000-plus people. In October of that year, the McNair Realty and Development company of Greenville, South Carolina, who owned the 400-acre (160 ha) Centre Pointe development tract, donated 30 acres (12 ha) of that land valued at approximately $100,000 an acre to the city for construction of the coliseum.^[7] The coliseum was originally planned to be part of a redevelopment dubbed "City Center," which was to include the coliseum, a convention center, a performing arts center, a transportation hub, a library, an art gallery and museum, an arts school, parking garages, and scenic park areas, and was to have been completed by 2000.^[8] As of June 2011, only the coliseum, convention center, and performing arts center have been completed.

In September 1988, the city considered five architectural firms for design and supervision of the coliseum's construction,^[9] eventually settling on Odell Associates, Inc.^[1] City Council approved a $25 million budget for design and construction of the coliseum and by February 1991 accepted a $19.8 million bid for the construction contract by McDevitt and Street Co. of Charlotte, North Carolina.^[1] Construction began on April 29, 1991, with an estimated completion time of 20 months.^[10] In September 1992, the City Council approved $879,000 to fund installation of an ice rink in the coliseum, which at that time was scheduled for completion by December 26 of that year.^[11] The ECHL Board of Governors met in November 1992 to vote on bringing a hockey franchise (whose application had been pre-approved that April) to the Charleston area.^[12] At that meeting, the league approved creation of the expansion franchise for the 1993–94 ECHL season, giving the coliseum its first professional sports team as a tenant.^[13]

Grand opening

The coliseum opened its doors on January 29, 1993 to a capacity crowd with its first event, the World Cup Figure Skating Champions ice skating exhibition.^[14] The opening night was plagued by parking issues that resulted in traffic congestion on local roads and up to an hour delay in clearing the parking lots following the show.^[15] The following night saw another sellout crowd for a concert featuring country music star Alan Jackson,^[14] for which the traffic problems were reduced due to early arrivals and improved traffic direction.^[15] The city expedited the expansion of available parking spaces from 4,000 to 5,030 soon after.^[15]

Accident

On November 10, 1997, the 5-ton coliseum scoreboard dropped while it was being lowered, landing on and killing Billie Wayne Garrett, a rodeo volunteer from Columbia. Coliseum officials believed the issue was with the board's hoisting mechanism, which was manufactured by a New Jersey company that had recently experienced hoist failures in two of its mechanisms, one resulting in a scoreboard dropping to the floor.^[16] The fall also caused a crack in the coliseum floor,^[17] but it was repaired and no damage was found to have been done to the piping system that makes ice for the coliseum floor.^[18] Garrett's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company that manufactured the scoreboard, the company that had recently inspected and passed the scoreboard, and Ogden Entertainment, the coliseum's managing company.^[19] The lawsuit was settled for $3.5 million.^[20] An upgraded scoreboard featuring improved video panels and a safer hoisting setup was installed in October 1999.^[21] This scoreboard was replaced in 2012 by another video scoreboard, part of a $21 million renovation that saw the addition of two food courts, the largest of which is the 7,400-square-foot (690 m²) Montague Terrace, as well as a new ticket office and upgrades to eight luxury suites.

New management

In August 2000, Ogden Entertainment—which had managed the coliseum since its opening in 1993—was purchased by Aramark. Aramark urged city officials to transfer management of the coliseum to SMG, of which Aramark was a half owner at the time, in an effort to leverage SMG's entertainment industry connections to bring more concerts to the area.^[22] In an effort to bolster attendance at the coliseum, which had been operating at a loss for two years, SMG took over management of the coliseum in late 2001, agreeing to construct a large freestanding marquee visible from Interstate 526 as part of the management contract.^[23]

Expansion

An ambitious expansion project was approved for financing by the city of North Charleston in 2009. The expansion consists of extensions built onto the Coliseum's north and south entrances, increasing concourse space by 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²) and adding up to 40 additional points of sale for concessions. The expansion will allow for renovation of existing suites and upgrades to the Coliseum's sound system, spotlights, and rigging bridges. Construction on the south side extension, dubbed Montague Terrace, commenced in August 2010 with a planned completion date of October 2011.^[24] Construction of the north side extension was completed in 2012.