Market Square Arena
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| Market Square Arena | |
|---|---|
| Location | 300 East Market Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 |
| Broke ground | October 20, 1971 |
| Opened | September 15, 1974 |
| Renovated | 1995 |
| Closed | October 24, 1999 |
| Demolished | July 8, 2001 |
| Owner | City of Indianapolis |
| Construction cost | $23 million |
| Main contractors | Huber, Hunt & Nichols |
| Tenants | Indiana Pacers (NBA) (1974-1999) Indianapolis Ice (IHL) (1988-1999) Indiana Twisters (CISL) (1996-1997) Indianapolis Racers (WHA) (1974-1979) 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament |
| Capacity | 16,530 (basketball) 15,993 (hockey) |
Market Square Arena was an indoor arena located in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The arena, completed in 1974 at a cost of $23 million, seated 16,530 for basketball and 15,993 for ice hockey.
Contents |
[edit] History
In the late 1960s, the City of Indianapolis studied several market areas of the city for future development and revitalization. Students from the fourth-year design studio class at Ball State University School of Architecture met with the City of Indianapolis to review and select 20-26 projects for consideration. Students Joseph Mynheir and Terry Pastorino selected downtown Indianapolis as their market and designed what would eventually become Market Square Arena. The design envisioned by Mynheir and Pastorino was later selected and used as a promotional tool by the City of Indianapolis for construction of the stadium. Four architectural firms were selected by the city to complete the arena design with two representatives from each of the four companies. Terry Pastorino, who had worked for Kennedy, Brown & Trueblood, Inc. during the summer of 1970 on the project, later joined the firm working on the arena.
The original student design included a four-story office building covering two city blocks. The Market Square Arena as constructed consisted of a unique space frame design spanning Market Street. The playing floor was elevated over Market Street by parking garages on either side of Market Street. Market Street terminated at Market Square Arena to the east and to the west by the capitol building. The final design eventually took up one city block spanning Market Street.
The first event held at the arena was a Glen Campbell concert on September 15, 1974. Indianapolis also hoted the 1987 Pan American Games.
Market Square Arena was best known as the home of the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association from 1974–1999. The first Pacers basketball game ever held in the arena was a preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks; attendance was 16,929. The first regular-season ABA game in the arena was held on October 18, 1974 against the San Antonio Spurs; the Pacers lost in double overtime, 129-121 in front of 7,473 fans. The first Pacers victory in Market Square Arena came on October 23 with a 122-107 win over the Spirits of St. Louis. The 1974-1975 season ended for the Pacers with the ABA Finals played in Market Square Arena and Freedom Hall against their archrivals, the Kentucky Colonels. The Colonels defeated the Pacers in that championship series, winning the ABA title in five games (4 wins to 1). The 1975-1976 Pacers won their final home ABA game in Market Square Arena with a 109-95 victory against the Colonels. (Kentucky won the next game by one point to win the series and advance, ending the Pacers' ABA tenure.) The Pacers continued to play in Market Square Arena after they joined the NBA. The final Pacers game to be played in Market Square Arena was a pre-season exhibition game against the Utah Jazz on October 23, 1999.
Market Square Arena was also the home of the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA from 1974-1979.
The arena was also the site of the final concert held by Elvis Presley on June 26, 1977, the 1980 NCAA men's basketball Final Four, and the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) men's basketball conference tournament from 1986–1988 and again in 1993. In addition, it hosted the famous rematch between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant in an episode of WWF The Main Event on February 5, 1988. The live NBC broadcast drew 33 million viewers.
The Pacers moved to the new Conseco Fieldhouse for the 1999-2000 NBA season, and Market Square Arena was demolished on July 8, 2001 in a multi million-dollar implosion. [1] The site of the former arena is a parking lot as of May, 2008. The parking lot holds a memorial, designed and built by Alan Clough to Elvis.
[edit] Interesting Facts
[edit] "Carpet Square Arena"
Alumni of St. Lawrence School, a small, parochial Catholic school which resides on the Northeast side of Indianapolis, labeled their alma mater with an interesting, though unofficial, name for their gymnasium. Sometime after its original construction, the gym floor was actually covered with brown carpet and included the various lines to delineate the basketball and volleyball courts. Sporting events held there were much quieter than in normal athletic facilities, as the sound made from crowds cheer and balls bouncing were muffled by the carpeted floor. Students eventually came to refer to their gymnasium as "Carpet Square Arena," a reference to the downtown facility which, at the time, hosted the Indiana Pacers.
[edit] External links
- Video of MSA's demolition - Video Collection of the demolition by the The Indianapolis Star
- Lost Indiana profile of Market Square Arena
[edit] References
| Preceded by Pepsi Coliseum |
Home of the Indiana Pacers 1974 – 1999 |
Succeeded by Conseco Fieldhouse |
| Preceded by Special Events Center |
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Finals Venue 1980 |
Succeeded by The Spectrum |
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