Prather Coliseum is a 3,900-seat multi-purpose arena

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

 in Natchitoches, Louisiana

Natchitoches, Louisiana

Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...

. It opened in 1964 and is home to the Northwestern State University

Northwestern State University

Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...

 Demons basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 team

Team

A team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team...

. The arena was named in honor of the school's most successful basketball and football coach, H. Lee Prather

H. Lee Prather

Henry Lee Prather was an American football and basketball coach in the United States. He served as the head football coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for one season in 1912, compiling a record of 3–4...

, who served from the 1910s through the 1940s before becoming NSU President in 1951. It hosted the Southland Conference

Southland Conference

The Southland Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the south central United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision...

 men's basketball tournament in 2005-06. Loyola University New Orleans

Loyola University New Orleans

Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...

 women's basketball player Keiva Council set the single game scoring record in the building with 48 points in an 84-80 Wolfpack victory over Northwestern State on November 25, 2011.

It is best known as the venue for the final concert performed by rock star Jim Croce

Jim Croce

James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...

 on September 20, 1973. Shortly after the concert, Croce's plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Natchitoches airport, killing Croce and all others aboard the plane.

The colisuem is among projects credited to the late State Senator

Louisiana State Legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 Sylvan Friedman

Sylvan Friedman

Sylvan N. Friedman was a Louisiana politician, a rare Jewish member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature...

 of Natchitoches Parish

Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana

Natchitoches Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Natchitoches. As of 2000, the population was 39,080. This is the heart of the Cane River Louisiana Creole community...

. It opened two years before Friedman's retirement.