Convention center authority OKs drawing up of ‘demolition documents’ for Coliseum
The regional authority that oversees Richmond’s convention center voted Friday to authorize funding “for the preparation of demolition documents” for the Coliseum, an indication that it may be considering issuing bonds to pay for the teardown.
Mayor Danny Avula said the decision by the board of directors of the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority — a body that includes the leaders of Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover, as well as business group InUnison — “feels positive.”
“GRCCA’s taken the next step in getting potential contractors to demolish the Coliseum,” he said.
The vote followed a roughly hour-long closed session attended by both Avula and Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II, who serves as vice chair of the GRCCA board.
Demolition of the 55-year-old downtown arena, which has sat vacant since 2019, has been a slow process.
Redevelopment of the site was part of the failed Navy Hill proposal floated by former Mayor Levar Stoney, as well as his administration’s City Center plan.
While City Center remains alive and Richmond was still in negotiations with Capstone Development this winter, no contract has been formally awarded for the project. Avula has floated the idea of breaking the 9-acre downtown parcel, which includes the Coliseum, into multiple pieces revamped by different developers instead of selecting one firm as a master developer for the whole site.
This January, the City Council agreed to extend the timeline for Richmond’s Economic Development Authority to find a redevelopment partner for the project and gave it the leeway to work with more than one.
At that time, officials once again identified demolition of the Coliseum as a priority. The Greater Richmond Convention Center has long envisioned the site as the location of a “headquarters hotel” that its leaders say is necessary to attract more and larger events to the city.
GRCCA also began soliciting cost estimates of its own for the demolition this October, but no current numbers have been made publicly available.
In 2024, city officials requested that the budget include $3 million for the demolition; the City Council turned them down. More recently, Avula has said he believes it would cost $12 to $15 million, although those figures are not based on any formal study.
Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org
