New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
A collection of documented history, dated images and original record links. Photographs available only at their publishers are labeled separately from locally included images. Unknown dates and conflicting accounts remain visible.

id: ED077-S01
title: Yale New Haven Building Archive: Coliseum
kind: Sources & research leads
date: See individual source date
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: Construction 1968, opening 1972, closure 2002; architectural and interior records.
url: https://nhba.yale.edu/building?id=411
credit: Yale New Haven Building Archive: Coliseum
notes: Linked source. The collection provides an original historical summary; the complete record remains with its repository.
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accessed: 2026-09-12
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id: ED077-S02
title: Bruce Springsteen performance photograph
kind: Sources & research leads
date: See individual source date
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: See the individual credited photograph records below; scan dates differ from performance dates.
url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruce_Springsteen_at_the_New_Haven_Coliseum_(7238976872).jpg
credit: Carl Lender: Coliseum concert photograph sources
notes: Linked source. The collection provides an original historical summary; the complete record remains with its repository.
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id: ED077-S03
title: Van Halen performance photograph
kind: Sources & research leads
date: See individual source date
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: Individual images retain dates and licenses.
url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Halen_-_New_Haven_Coliseum.jpg
credit: New Haven Coliseum image catalog
notes: Linked source. The collection provides an original historical summary; the complete record remains with its repository.
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accessed: 2026-09-12
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id: ED077-S04
title: David Richards: Half way down
kind: Sources & research leads
date: See individual source date
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: January 20, 2007 implosion sequence; CC BY 2.0.
url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Half_way_down_(363692398).jpg
credit: David Richards: Half way down
notes: Linked source. The collection provides an original historical summary; the complete record remains with its repository.
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accessed: 2026-09-12
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id: ED077-S05
title: Joel Schiavone oral history finding aid
kind: Sources & research leads
date: See individual source date
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: Architecture record and associated research context; oral-history discovery is not a transcript.
url: https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/2867.pdf
credit: Yale New Haven Building Archive: oral-history context
notes: Linked source. The collection provides an original historical summary; the complete record remains with its repository.
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accessed: 2026-09-12
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id: ED-N-coliseum-01
title: Bruce Springsteen at the New Haven Coliseum
kind: Photographs
date: Circa 1977–1978
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: Bruce Springsteen performing on stage, identified by source as New Haven Coliseum. Bruce Springsteen performing at the Coliseum, around 1977–1978. Concert photographs reveal the cultural life inside an often-debated building.
url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruce_Springsteen_at_the_New_Haven_Coliseum_(7238976872).jpg
credit: Carl Lender / Carl Lender on Flickr; Wikimedia Commons
notes: Historic range from Commons description. May 2012 is scan/upload metadata, not concert date. Original Commons record and actual original-file link inspected. Venue and approximate date depend on source metadata; not independently established from pixels. Display copy optimized for the web with proportional resizing and compression. The linked repository identifies the original image. Reuse: open_license: Commons states CC BY 2.0; Flickr license reviewed September 8, 2023.
file: images/ED-N-coliseum-01.webp
text_file: 
accessed: 2026-09-12
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
external_image_url: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Bruce_Springsteen_at_the_New_Haven_Coliseum_%287238976872%29.jpg/1280px-Bruce_Springsteen_at_the_New_Haven_Coliseum_%287238976872%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail
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id: ED-N-coliseum-02
title: Van Halen — New Haven Coliseum
kind: Photographs
date: Concert date unverified; before venue closed in 2002
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: Van Halen performance identified by source as New Haven Coliseum. Van Halen on the Coliseum stage. The photograph is a record of performance and audience memory; its exact concert date remains unverified.
url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Halen_-_New_Haven_Coliseum.jpg
credit: Carl Lender / Carl Lender on Flickr; Wikimedia Commons
notes: Commons and Flickr dates are May 21, 2012, associated with digitization. They cannot date a performance at a demolished venue. Commons original-file URL and original Flickr source inspected; no historical performance date provided. Do not invent a concert date from the image. Display copy optimized for the web with proportional resizing and compression. The linked repository identifies the original image. Reuse: open_license: Commons CC BY 2.0; Flickr license reviewed October 13, 2023.
file: images/ED-N-coliseum-02.webp
text_file: 
accessed: 2026-09-12
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
external_image_url: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Van_Halen_-_New_Haven_Coliseum.jpg/1280px-Van_Halen_-_New_Haven_Coliseum.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail
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id: ED-N-coliseum-03
title: New Haven Coliseum, morning of demolition
kind: Photographs
date: January 20, 2007
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: New Haven Coliseum before demolition, viewed over downtown rooftops. By demolition morning, the arena had already been dismantled; the elevated garage remained. This is not the Coliseum's complete original appearance.
url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Haven_Coliseum_morning_of_demolition.JPG
credit: Staxringold / Wikimedia Commons / English Wikipedia
notes: Original description and EXIF date agree; record explicitly warns that arena was previously deconstructed. Structure remains standing; distinguish from the following collapse frames. Display copy optimized for the web with proportional resizing and compression. The linked repository identifies the original image. Reuse: open_license: Commons explicitly offers CC BY-SA 3.0 in addition to GFDL.
file: images/ED-N-coliseum-03.webp
text_file: 
accessed: 2026-09-12
license_url: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
external_image_url: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/New_Haven_Coliseum_morning_of_demolition.JPG/1280px-New_Haven_Coliseum_morning_of_demolition.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail
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id: ED-N-coliseum-04
title: Half way down
kind: Photographs
date: January 20, 2007, 7:50 a.m.
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: Coliseum structure collapsing behind spectators and traffic lights. The remaining structure collapses during the controlled implosion. A single instant marks the physical ending of a place that remains in local memory.
url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Half_way_down_(363692398).jpg
credit: David Richards / David Richards on Flickr; Wikimedia Commons
notes: Original Commons page inspected for date, author, licensing and file URL. Distinct demolition phase. Display copy optimized for the web with proportional resizing and compression. The linked repository identifies the original image. Reuse: open_license: Commons CC BY 2.0; Flickr license reviewed June 22, 2018.
file: images/ED-N-coliseum-04.webp
text_file: 
accessed: 2026-09-12
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
external_image_url: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Half_way_down_%28363692398%29.jpg/1280px-Half_way_down_%28363692398%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail
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id: ED-N-coliseum-05
title: Dust cloud coming towards crowd
kind: Photographs
date: January 20, 2007, 7:50 a.m.
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: Dust cloud spreading after the Coliseum collapse. The crowd confronts the dust cloud after the implosion. This view records demolition as a public event, not simply a construction operation.
url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dust_cloud_coming_towards_crowd_(363692705).jpg
credit: David Richards / David Richards on Flickr; Wikimedia Commons
notes: Original Commons page inspected for date, author, licensing and file URL. Distinct later phase, not duplicate of Half way down. Display copy optimized for the web with proportional resizing and compression. The linked repository identifies the original image. Reuse: open_license: Commons CC BY 2.0; Flickr license reviewed June 22, 2018.
file: images/ED-N-coliseum-05.webp
text_file: 
accessed: 2026-09-12
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
external_image_url: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Dust_cloud_coming_towards_crowd_%28363692705%29.jpg/1280px-Dust_cloud_coming_towards_crowd_%28363692705%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail
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id: ED-N-coliseum-06
title: Coliseum aerial photograph
kind: Photographs
date: Undated, during operating life
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: An aerial view shows the arena, elevated parking and spiraling vehicle ramp as a single structure.
url: https://nhba.yale.edu/building?id=411
credit: Not specified / Yale Urban Media Project, New Haven Building Archive; credited Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates records
notes: Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. Source image matched through web image search and repository caption. Repository caption itself uses 'Peter Dinkeloo', apparently a metadata error; firm is Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates. Reuse: undetermined: No open image license found. Related Yale collection MS 1884 states donor copyright transferred to Yale; transfer is not public-domain release.
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accessed: 2026-09-12
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external_image_url: https://nhba-medium-imgs.s3.amazonaws.com/5af4e7242027cb3a4f585834-1530547962987-IMG_4909.JPG
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id: ED-N-coliseum-07
title: Interior set up for a concert
kind: Photographs
date: 1979
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: The arena arranged for a concert makes clear how the same indoor space supported different events.
url: https://nhba.yale.edu/building?id=411
credit: James R. Anderson Photography / New Haven Building Archive
notes: Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. Exact dated caption and photographer credit verified on repository record; image file not extracted. Reuse: permission_required: Repository says photo courtesy of James R. Anderson Photography; no open license established.
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id: ED-N-coliseum-08
title: Joel Schiavone oral history about downtown and the Coliseum
kind: Sources & research leads
date: March 8, 2005
institution: New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
summary: Developer Joel Schiavone discusses downtown projects and the Coliseum's design, upkeep and marketing. Oral history adds a participant's perspective to visual records.
url: https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/2867.pdf
credit: Joel Schiavone; interviewer/project metadata in collection / Yale University Library, Oral histories documenting New Haven, Connecticut, RU 1055
notes: Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. Finding aid verifies date, duration 1:40:20 and subject. Audio itself not listened to; do not quote interview words from this metadata. Reuse: access_request_required: Finding aid says digital access copies must be provided and gives repository access procedure; no open reproduction license established.
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