THE ALLEN COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL COLISEUM
An address delivered before the Quest Club by Otto H. Adams, November 6, 1953, at the Chamber of Commerce, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Prepared by the Staff of the
Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County
1954
One of a historical series, this pamphlet is publishedunder the direction of the governing Boards of the PublicLibrary of Fort Wayne and Allen County.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SCHOOL CITY OF FORT WAYNE
- Mrs. Sadie Fulk Roehrs
- B.F. Geyer, President
- Joseph E. Kramer, Secretary
- W. Page Yarnelle, Treasurer
- Willard Shambaugh
PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR ALLEN COUNTY
The members of this Board include the members of the Board of Trustees of theSchool City of Fort Wayne (with the same officers) together with the followingcitizens chosen from Allen County outside the corporate City of Fort Wayne:
- James E. Graham
- Arthur Niemeier
- Mrs. Glenn Henderson
- Mrs. Charles Reynolds
FOREWORD
The story of the Allen County War Memorial Coliseumbegan ten years ago. The progression of events between thefirst consideration of the memorial in 1944 and its completionin 1952 was by no means smooth and uninterrupted. Theaccount of the solution of the problems involved in planning,financing, and constructing the memorial constitutes a communityaccomplishment.
The source material for this publication originated ina speech delivered by Otto H. Adams at a meeting of theQuest Club, November 6, 1953. Mr. Adams, recentlyelected president of the Coliseum Board of Trustees, reviewedthe history of the Coliseum and discussed its valueto city and county in his paper entitled “Coliseum—Asset orLiability?” James R. Fleming, the past president of theBoard of Trustees, A. M. Strauss, the architect, and DonL. Myers, the coliseum manager, have supplied supplementaryinformation.
The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of FortWayne and Allen County present this pamphlet in the hopethat it will interest and inform the citizens of Allen County.
In 1944 the Fort Wayne Junior Chamber of Commercefirst proposed the construction of a coliseum as a memorialto the men and women of Allen County who had lost theirlives in both World Wars. Such a structure was envisionedas serving a twofold purpose; it would honor our heroic deadand would greatly increase recreational facilities. A RussellSage Foundation study was made after World War II; thereport indicates a definite trend among memorial planners toerect “living memorials,” which serve the people while honoringtheir heroes, rather than ornamental arches, statues,and monuments. The Foundation believes that this trend iscommendable and hails it as a “triumph of common senseover sentimentalism.” Contemporary