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Most Endangered Places
2004

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Most Endangered Places for 2004

THE ULINE ARENA

BETWEEN 2ND & 3RD AND L AND M STREETS, NE

STEWARD: DOUGLAS DEVELOPMENT

This building is located on Third Street, NE, directly adjacent to the railroad tracks just north of Union Station and bounded by L and M Streets. It was built in 1941 and operated by Miguel L. “Uncle Mike” Uline for the Washington Lions of the Eastern Hockey League. The building seats 9,000 people. This concrete vaulted building was the site of the Beatles first North American performance (before the Ed Sullivan Show) and also noted as the home of Go-Go music where local musicians such as Chuck Brown, Trouble Funk, and Rare Essence performed. Political rallies and speeches were a tradition in the arena including a rally stated by Fight for Freedom, Inc. in support of the US involvement in WWII a month before Pearl Harbor and a speech by Nation of Islam Founder Elijah Muhammad in 1959. Since its construction in 1941, the arena (later known as the Washington Coliseum), has been a place for figure skating, jazz, wrestling, ballet, basketball, Washington’s Go-Go music style, midget auto racing, rock, hockey, karate, politics, tennis, boxing, and Indian ragas. DCPL nominated Uline Arena to the DC Inventory of Historic Sites in June 2003. The application is pending hearing by the Historic Preservaton Review Board.