The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum

by Otto H. Adams; Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County

Memorial Hall.

Both major political parties endorsed the issue. The chairmen of the Democratic and Republican central committees signed a joint statement which advocated voting “yes” on a project that would benefit every person in Allen County. The average annual cost to the taxpayer would be only fifty-five cents, it was stated. Many civic organizations pledged their support. The Zollner Pistons played an exhibition game and donated all proceeds to the War Memorial Commission. The check for $1,700 was used for publicity to win the support of the voters. The Civic Theatre also gave a benefit performance for the cause. The Fort Wayne Civic Association paid for advertisements explaining the benefits of the proposed coliseum.

About this time, fearing that the sports arena function of the coliseum was being overemphasized, the president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce reiterated its primary purpose: “War memorials should be for the living, not for the dead alone. The living must be enabled to derive a spiritual lift from them. There must be a shrine to which one may go to commune with the missing and to pay tribute to the returned. A mere building does not serve this purpose. The true memorial building has a heart, a focal point. Some symbol within it must tell why the building was built, and this must be the center of interest.”

The results of the referendum of November 6, 1946, must have gratified the commission; that organization had endeavored to stimulate the public interest and approval and had succeeded admirably. The vote was five to one in favor of floating a bond issue to finance the memorial.

After the first World War, a law had been passed by the state legislature permitting the county councils to issue bonds for memorial purposes to the extent of ½ per cent of the total property valuation of the county. Based on the property valuation of Allen County in 1947, this proportion would have been approximately one and one-half million dollars, but it was evident that the cost of the proposed coliseum would far exceed this amount. Public subscription and federal aid were among the several sources considered for obtaining the additional funds necessary to build the structure. But these auxiliary sources were discarded in favor of raising the ceiling of bonded indebtedness. A change in the statute was proposed. A bill was formulated and sponsored by the American Legion legislative committee. The War Memorial Commission warmly praised Robert Gaskill, chairman of the legislative committee, for his valuable assistance. The bill was enacted, and in March, 1947, Governor Ralph F. Gates signed the amended law increasing the ceiling from ½ per cent to 1 per cent of the assessable property in the county.

The majority of the voters of Allen County gave their support to the planners of the War Memorial Coliseum and were eager to have the preliminary work completed and the construction begun. But a small minority argued that increasing the indebtedness of the county was unjustifiable and that the Coliseum would impose too heavy a burden on the taxpayer. Some members of the minority attempted to thwart the coliseum plans; they contended that the law permitted the county to issue bonds for only one memorial and that Fort Wayne already had a memorial in Memorial Park. Both contentions were correct; if that memorial had really been built with funds secured from a county bond issue, it would have been illegal to finance the Coliseum by that means. Investigation disclosed that the theory that the old memorial was paid for by the county could not be substantiated. Apparently, funds were secured largely through the generous donations of individuals and were augmented by public subscription. Again the commission turned to the Indiana General Assembly, and this time the legislature unanimously passed a bill declaring a bond issue for a memorial coliseum legal.

The passage of the bill raising the amount of the bond issue assured approximately three million dollars for the memorial. The first decision facing the county commissioners thereafter was the final selection of a site. On May 19, 1947, a joint meeting of the commissioners and the War Memorial Commission heard Elwood Allen recommend the Municipal Beach area. Mr. Allen cited the following sound reasons for his choice: the tract is well drained, high, and adequate in size to allow for future expansion; at the present time, two thirds of the rural population of Allen County have easy access to it; within the next few decades the center of population probably will shift toward the north of the city.

For a brief period there was some dissension between the county commissioners and the War Memorial Commission. The members of the commission had accomplished much of the preliminary work and felt that the commissioners were not giving sufficient consideration to their recommendations. Legally, the commissioners had the power of final decision; as elected officials they could not delegate authority to another group. The commissioners realized that any rift between the groups would be detrimental to the progress of the Coliseum; therefore, they offered the War Memorial Commission the status of “a public body to advise and counsel with” them. The commission unanimously accepted this proposal, and full accord was re-established between the two groups. The commission set up a planning committee to work in close co-operation with the commissioners and with Alvin M. Strauss, the architect for the Coliseum.

In April, 1948, the planning committee and the county commissioners scheduled a special meeting and invited representatives from thirty-three civic, fraternal, and labor organizations. Mr. Strauss presented his original plans which called for an expenditure of four million dollars. He also announced the retention of Elwood Allen, who had made preliminary surveys, as recreational consultant.