Alliant Energy Center (formerly Dane County Coliseum) is a multi-building complex located in unincorporated Madison, Wisconsin. It comprises 164 acres of greenspace and includes the 255,000 square-foot Exhibition Hall, the 10,000-seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the 29 acre Willow Island and the 22,000-square-foot Arena. After completing various stages of planning throughout 2013, it was announced on November 26 that Dane County would be awarding a $20.7 million contract to Miron Construction for the construction of two new multi-use pavilions at the Alliant Energy Center. The exhibition pavilions, which total 290,000 square feet, will be replacing the nine current agricultural barns. Construction began following the Midwest Horse Fair in April 2014 with completion set in time for the 2014 World Dairy Expo in late September. The Center welcomes more than one million people attending more than 500 events annually, ranging from local meetings and banquets to large sporting events and major concerts.
Veterans Memorial Coliseum (formerly known as Dane County Coliseum), built in 1967, is a 10,231 seat (7,432 seats for basketball and hockey) multi-purpose arena that is the centerpiece of the Alliant Energy Center campus. It is a site for concerts, family shows, sporting events, consumer shows, conventions and assemblies. The building was completely renovated in 2004-2005.
The Coliseum during the 2004 WIAA Girl's State Basketball Tournament
The Coliseum has a long-standing history as a hockey venue. The building was home to the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team from the 1967-68 season to the 1997-98 season, when they moved to the Kohl Center on campus. It was one of the largest college hockey arenas in the nation, as well as one of the loudest. Reportedly, the "sieve chant," which is now commonly heard in nearly every arena to taunt the opposing goalie after a goal, was first started at the Coliseum. The environment for Badger hockey games was such that it was nicknamed "the Montreal Forum of college hockey." Badger fans still call the arena "the Great Dane."
The Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team also played a number of games on the Coliseum ice in their first two seasons (1999-00 and 2000–01). The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) boys' and girls' state hockey tournaments also take place each year in Veterans Memorial Coliseum. State tournaments for boys' hockey have been held in the Coliseum since 1971, except in 1974 and 1975 when they were held in Green Bay. All state tournaments for girls' hockey have been held in the Coliseum since 2001–02. The Coliseum was also home to two minor league hockey franchises, the Madison Monsters from 1995 until 1999, and the Madison Kodiaks in 1999–2000. The Madison Mad Dogs, an indoor football team, also played in the Coliseum from 1998 to 2000. In 2009, indoor football returned to the Coliseum as the Continental Indoor Football League's Wisconsin Wolfpack played the 2009 season there. However, the following season the Wolfpack moved to the Hartmeyer Ice Arena. It was also the home ice of the Madison Capitols hockey team until their move to the Capitol Ice Arena, a separate, smaller facility.
