Indiana Convention Center

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The Indiana Convention Center is a very large convention center located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It contains over 400,000 square feet of open exhibit space and almost 140,000 square feet of group meeting space. It was finished in late 1983 along with the Hoosier Dome (later named the RCA Dome), which it is connected to. The combined cost was around $82 million. Half of the funds were private and the other half was public (taxpayer). In total, there are 48 meeting rooms and multiple food courts. ^[1]

1 Convention Center Expansion
2 Notable Conventions
3 References
4 External Links

[edit] Convention Center Expansion

There are developing plans to expand the Convention Center to be able to hold larger conventions. While the exact additional space has yet to be determined, the initial planning phases have begun. Construction cannot begin until the new home of the Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium, is completed and opened for the 2008 NFL season. Most of the Convention Center expansion will be on the site of the RCA Dome, which will be torn down after the Lucas Oil Stadium is put to use. It is anticipated that the new convention space will be open sometime in 2010.^[2]

[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, having around 24,000 visitors each year. 2007's will be August 16 - 19.
National FFA convention - First time in Indianapolis is October 25-28, 2006 and will be there every year up to 2012. This convention attracts around 50,000 FFA members to the city. ^[3]