Stegeman Coliseum

The Georgia Coliseum was officially dedicated to the memory of Herman James Stegeman in a special ceremony Saturday, March 2, 1996 at halftime of the Georgia-South Carolina basketball game. It is now in its 40th year of operation as a multi-purpose indoor facility.

Stegeman made many contributions to Georgia's athletic program during his 20-year tenure (1919-39). He was a pioneer in the development of college basketball in the south in the 1920s, originating the first big basketball tournament in this region of the country when he organized the old Southern Conference tournament in Atlanta from 1921-32. Stegeman Hall on the UGA campus was named for Coach Stegeman in 1946 and for years it was home of the University's athletic and physical education departments. The athletic department moved its offices to the new coliseum in 1964, and Stegeman Hall was demolished in 1995 following completion of the Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activities.

When the Coliseum originally opened in 1964, the largest crowd in its history was there to see the Bulldogs defeat arch-rival Georgia Tech 81-68. Georgia's men's and women's teams now play in a newly renovated arena with altered seating configuration, completed at a cost of $3.6 million and now with a capacity of 10,523. The Coliseum is actually two structures, the roof and the building beneath it. The only connection between the two is an aluminum bellows which seals the joints and permits the rise and fall of the roof with temperature change.

Stegeman Coliseum has undergone thorough renovations in the last few years, including expansion of the seating area, new scoreboards, painting, new scoring and press tables, and in 1998, a new, state-of-the art basketball floor.

In addition, Stegeman Coliseum was also utilized for rhythmic gymnastics and preliminary volleyball competition during the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996.

The facility also is home to the Georgia gymnastics team, which has won seven NCAA titles (1987, 1989, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006) and regularly attracts near-capacity crowds for its home meets. For gymnastics, the basketball floor is covered and the various pieces of gymnastics equipment are assembled on top. The lower seating is collapsed to make more room for the gymnastics competition. Stegeman Coliseum was the site of the 1989 and 1995 NCAA Championships.