The Indiana Convention Center is a major convention center located in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The original structure was completed in 1972 and has undergone five expansions. In total, there are 71 meeting rooms, 11 exhibit halls, and three multi-purpose ballrooms. The connected facilities of

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). It opened on August ...

offer an additional of exhibit space and 12 meeting rooms.

History

Indiana Convention Center exterior with ginkgo tree

Originally named the Indiana Convention-Exposition Center, groundbreaking for the $26.1 million venue occurred December 8, 1969. Completed in 1972, the original project included one ballroom, three exhibition halls, and 23 meeting rooms encompassing . The first major expansion to the Indiana Convention Center added one ballroom, two exhibit halls, and 16 meeting rooms, increasing total rentable space to —concurrent with construction of the adjoining 60,500-seat Hoosier Dome, later renamed the RCA Dome, both completed in 1984. The combined cost was around $94.7 million. The convention center was expanded again from 1992 to 1993. The $43 million two-story addition increased total rentable space to , with the additions of the Sagamore Ballroom and 16 meeting rooms. The project also included skywalk connections to the Westin Indianapolis and Hyatt Regency Indianapolis (via Plaza Park Garage). Another expansion followed in 2000. The addition of a ballroom, two exhibit halls, and seven meeting rooms increased the total rentable space to . The project included a skywalk connection to the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. Construction of the 67,000-seat

began in September 2005 one block south of the RCA Dome. Opening in August 2008, the $720 million stadium contains approximately of exhibition space. Upon completion of Lucas Oil Stadium, the RCA Dome was demolished. The iconic air-lifted dome was deflated and the implosion of the stadium was completed in December 2008. The convention center's most recent and largest expansion was undertaken from 2008 to 2010, opening in January 2011. A addition was constructed on the site of the former RCA Dome, costing $275 million. As part of the expansion, an underground walkway along the west side of Capitol Avenue was built to connect this new portion of the facility to Lucas Oil Stadium. A skywalk was also built to connect the convention center with the JW Marriott Indianapolis (via the Government Center Washington Street Parking Facility), which was completed in 2011. Ratio Architects, Inc. was the lead architectural firm for the expansion, assisted by other Indiana companies, BSA LifeStructures, Blackburn Architects, and Domain Architecture Inc. Indianapolis-based Shiel Sexton Co. Inc. was the lead construction manager, in association with Powers & Sons Construction Company Inc. In addition to its space, the Indiana Convention Center now possesses 49 loading docks, seven drive-in ramps, and three food courts. It is also connected to 12 hotels and 4,700 hotel rooms via skywalks, the most of any U.S. convention center. In September 2020,

Indianapolis City-County Council The City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County is the legislative body of the combined government of the city of Indianapolis and the county of Marion in the state of Indiana. The council was established as part of the consolidation ...

unanimously approved a $155 million bond measure to build a ballroom, of meeting and pre-function space, and two high-rise hotels developed by Kite Realty, totaling 1,400 rooms. The first hotel, branded as a Signia by Hilton, is planned to be completed in 2024. According to the ''

Indianapolis Star Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of ...

'' and ''

Indianapolis Business Journal ''Indianapolis Business Journal'', often abbreviated ''IBJ'', is a weekly newspaper published in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. ''IBJ'' reports on Central Indiana business. It is the leading publication of IBJ Media. Its economic columnists includ ...

'', this is the fifth major expansion of the Indiana Convention Center and would push the total rentable space to more than .

Notable events

The Indiana Convention Center has been the host to a large variety of events, including concerts, conventions, meetings, pageants, sports competitions, and trade shows.

Annual events

Big Ten Football Championship Game The Big Ten Football Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big Ten Conference each year to determine the conference's season champion. The game, held after the regular season has been completed, currently matches the top two te ...

Fan Fest * FDIC International (1994–present) *

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...

(2003–present) * Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration *Indiana Comic Con (2014–present) *Indianapolis Auto Show * National FFA Convention & Expo (2006–2012, 2016–present) *

Performance Racing Industry {{primarysources, date=May 2010 Performance Racing Industry was started in 1986 by Steve Lewis, owner of Laguna Coast Publishing, based in Laguna Beach, California. Now based in Aliso Viejo, California, the company operates PRI magazine, a monthl ...

Trade Show (1998–2004, 2013–present) * PopCon Indy (2014–present)

Past events

* Dressed to Kill Tour (Kiss) (April and August 1975) *

Miss Gay America Miss Gay America is a national pageant for Drag queen, female impersonators. Established in 1972, the pageant is based on the Miss America contest and follows a similar format. Each year, contestants compete at various city, state, and direct ...

(September 1986) *

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

(August 1987) **

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

Fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

Field Hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

Modern Pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Summer Olympics, Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, Laser pistol (sport), laser pistol shooting, and ...

Rhythmic Gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

General Council of the Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially The General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States and the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal ...

(August 2000) *''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

'' (2001 and 2016) * ''Star Wars'' Celebration II (May 2002) *

USA Wrestling USA Wrestling (formerly known as the United States Wrestling Federation and as the United States Wrestling Association) is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. USA Wrestling ...

2003 Senior World Team Trials (June 2003) * ''Star Wars'' Celebration III (April 2005) *

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Bracket Town (April 2010) *

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

Super Bowl Experience (January–February 2012) *NCAA Final Four Fan Fest (April 2015) *NCAA Tourney Town ** Women's Basketball Final Four (March–April 2011) ** Women's Basketball Final Four (March–April 2016) *

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

**143rd Annual Meetings & Exhibits (April 2014) **148th Annual Meetings & Exhibits (April 2019) *

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism during the late 19th century. The denomination has its headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas. and it ...

** 2013 General Assembly and Conventions (June 2013) **2017 General Assembly and Conventions (June 2017) *

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

Experience (2017 and 2018) *

United Pentecostal Church International The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Weldon Spring, Missouri. The United Pentecostal Church International was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal Church, Inc. ...

**UPCI General Conference 1991 **UPCI General Conference 2016 ** North American Youth Congress (2017) **UPCI General Conference 2019 **UPCI General Conference 2021 **UPCI General Conference 2023 *

Church of God In Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an international Christian perfection#Holiness Pentecostalism, Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and a large Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi ...

Auxiliaries in Ministry Convention (2018) * National Catholic Youth Conference (1991, 2001, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019) *

2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college basketball national champion for the 2020–21 seaso ...

(March–April 2021) *

10th National Eucharistic Congress (United States) The Tenth National Eucharistic Congress was held from July 17 to 21, 2024, at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, to foster devotion to the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of the Eucharist. ...

(July 2024)

Public art

* ''Female Tourist'' – Public artwork by American artist Tom Otterness * ''Free Money'' – Public artwork by American artist Tom Otterness * '' King at Rest'' – Public artwork by American artist Lorenzo Ghiglieri * ''Male Tourist'' – Public artwork by American artist Tom Otterness

References

External links

Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium
{{authority control Tourist attractions in Indianapolis Buildings and structures in Indianapolis Boxing venues in Indiana Wrestling venues in Indiana Convention centers in Indiana Buildings and structures completed in 1972 1972 establishments in Indiana