Indiana Convention Center
The Indiana Convention Center is a convention center located in Downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. It contains over 400,000 square feet (40,000 m2) of open exhibit space and almost 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) of group meeting space. It was finished in late 1983 along with the Hoosier Dome (later named the RCA Dome), which it was connected to prior the Dome's deconstruction in 2008. The combined cost was around $82 million. Half of the funds were private and the other half were public (taxpayer). In total, there are 48 meeting rooms and multiple food courts.[1]
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[edit] Convention Center Expansion
A major expansion to the Indiana Convention Center is currently underway. This is the fourth expansion to the convention center since it opened in 1972.[2]
First, the Lucas Oil Stadium was constructed adjacent to the convention center. It opened in August 2008. The stadium offers 183,000 sq ft (17,000 m2) of exhibition space, 13,000 sq ft (1,200 m2) of meeting rooms, and 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) of pre-event space.[3]
Next, the old home of the Indianapolis Colts, the RCA Dome, was demolished and removed. The iconic air-lifted dome was deflated and the implosion of the stadium was completed in December 2008.[3] On this site, a new two-story convention center building is being constructed. This facility will offer 254,000 sq ft (23,600 m2) of exhibit space, 63,000 sq ft (5,900 m2) of meeting rooms, 103,000 sq ft (9,600 m2) of pre-exhibit space, and a 31,000 sq ft (2,900 m2) plaza.[3]
When completed, the expanded Indiana Convention Center will possess over 1,230,000 square feet (114,000 m2) of space for convention/meeting uses.[3] It is anticipated that the expansion will be complete in January 2011.[2] Ratio Architects, Inc. is the lead architect for the Convention Center Expansion, assisted by other Indiana firms, BSA LifeStructures, Blackburn Architects and Domain Architecture Inc. Indianapolis headquartered Shiel Sexton Co. Inc. is the lead construction manager, in association with Powers & Sons Construction Company Inc.
[edit] Notable Conventions
The Indiana Convention Center has been the host to a large variety of meetings and conventions. These include:
- Star Wars Celebration II and III - It brought over 30,000 loyal Star Wars fans to Indianapolis, including George Lucas, Hayden Christensen, Peter Mayhew, and many other members of the Star Wars cast and crew. Celebration III was April 21–24, 2005.
- Gen Con - One of the largest and most prominent gaming conventions in North America. It moved to Indianapolis in 2003 and occurs in August. In 2011, Gen Con saw over 36,000 unique attendees.
- National FFA convention - Has host the event from 2005-2012, alternative with Louisville from year to year after this. This convention attracts around 50,000 FFA members to the city.[4]
- The Indiana Convention center was also the site of the boxing competitions in the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis.
- The Indiana Convention Center was the site of the 1980 General Conference of the United Methodist Church as well as the 1972 North Central Jursidictional Conference.
[edit] References
- ^ ICC homepage accessed on October 23, 2006
- ^ a b http://www.icclos.com/Expansion/
- ^ a b c d http://www.in.gov/iscba/convention/index.html
- ^ FFA accessed on October 23, 2006
[edit] External links
- Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium
- The Indiana Convention Center is located at 39°45′55″N 86°9′45″W / 39.76528°N 86.1625°WCoordinates: 39°45′55″N 86°9′45″W / 39.76528°N 86.1625°W
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