The barrel vault arena was originally built in 1949, seating 10,034, to replace a building on the same site that had burned down a year earlier.

Built by architects Rinfret and Bouchard with designs drawn up by Robert Blatter and F. Caron, the arena was a mix of International Style exterior and Art Deco interior.

Coincidentally, the former Quebec Nordiques, now known as the Colorado Avalanche, currently play at what was formerly known as Pepsi Center (now Ball Arena) in Denver.

[9] The arena hosted the 1971 Memorial Cup championship series, in which the Remparts defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings two games to none.

The show handling the arts and figure skating produced by Alain Goldberg featuring Sylvain Cossette, Andrée Watters, Marc Hervieux, Jeanick Fournier and also Éléonore Lagacé, Andréanne Martin and Liana Bureau from La Voix.

[10][11] Former Nordiques owner and Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Aubut originally said that there were no plans to demolish the Colisée Pepsi even if a new arena was built.

Aubut mentioned a prospective future Winter Olympics bid among other justifications for maintaining the existing arena.