Portal:Indianapolis/Selected attraction
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The Indianapolis Zoo was first opened to the public in 1964. Its current home in White River State Park was opened in 1988. The zoo hosts about 1.4 million visitors each year and plays a role in worldwide conservation and research, including accomplishing the world’s first successful artificial insemination of an African elephant. The Indianapolis Zoo is the only institution accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the American Association of Museums as a zoo, an aquarium, and as a botanical garden. The zoo is a private non-profit organization, receiving no tax support and is supported entirely by membership fees, admissions, donations, sales, grants, and an annual fundraiser.
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The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, the world's largest children's museum, is located in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. There are miniature exhibits throughout the museum as well as resource centers for tourists and schools. The main stairwell of the museum is actually a giant spiral ramp which allows visitors to access all five levels of the museum by walking or the use of strollers and wheelchairs. In 2006, world renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly installed a four story glass chandelier inside the giant spiral ramp. This installment is called "Fireworks of Glass" and is accompanied by an exhibit of Chihuly's glass blowing methods.
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The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library (IMCPL) is the public library system that serves the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis. The library was founded in 1873 and has grown to include a Central Library building, located in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, and 22 branch libraries spread throughout Marion County. According to a March 13, 2007 press release, the Library boasted over 5.43 million visitors and a record-high circulation of nearly 13.8 million items in 2006.
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The Indianapolis Museum of Art is a art museum located in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is among the largest and oldest general art museums in the United States. The museum traces its founding to October 11, 1883, when 18 Indianapolis residents signed articles of incorporation to establish the Art Association of Indianapolis. Among the founders was May Wright Sewall (1844–1920), who was known during her lifetime for her work in the women’s suffrage movement and as a founder of the International Council of Women.
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White River State Park covers 250 acres (1 km²) in Indianapolis, United States, just west of the downtown area at 801 W. Washington Street. Among the attractions located in or near the park are the Indiana State Museum and IMAX Theater, Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, NCAA Headquarters and NCAA Hall of Champions, the Indiana Medal of Honor Memorial, Victory Field, and The Lawn @ White River State Park as Indianapolis' World-Class outdoor concert venue. Although the Canal was never used for what it was built for, recent restoration and development have changed the area and it is currently functioning as a cultural center within the city of Indianapolis.
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Conner Prairie is a living history museum in Fishers, Indiana, that preserves the historic William Conner home and recreates part of life in Indiana in the 19th century on the White River. It is said to be one of the most realistic living history museum in the United States, next to Colonial Williamsburg
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Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana (a separate town completely surrounded by Indianapolis) in the United States, is the second-oldest surviving automobile racing track in the world (after Milwaukee), and the home of the most famous open wheel race in the United States, the Indianapolis 500. It has existed since 1909, and is the original "Speedway," the first racing facility historically to incorporate the word. With a permanent seating capacity for more than 257,000 people and infield seating that raises capacity to an approximate 400,000, it is the largest and highest-capacity sporting facility in history (by comparison, the world's largest stadium seats 150,000 spectators).
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Circle Centre is a large indoor shopping mall located in downtown Indianapolis (just around the corner from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument). Plans for a downtown Indianapolis mall had been in development by the Simon Property Group since 1979. Circle Centre was opened to the public on September 8, 1995, adjoining Simon corporate headquarters, and incorporating existing downtown structures such as the former L. S. Ayres flagship store, which was used to house a Parisian location.
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Hinkle Fieldhouse is a basketball arena located on the campus of Butler University on the northwest side of Indianapolis. When it was built in 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States, and it retained that distinction until the late 1950s. A major facelift in 1989 reduced the seating capacity from 15,000 to 11,043. These changes were made because of the seating arrangements. The majority of the seats were located behind the two baskets, and when the arena was renovated, the court was moved to its original location so that more seats would be along the sides of the court. Hinkle was added to the list of U.S. National Historic Landmarks on December 22, 1983.
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The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art, located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, houses an extensive collection of Native American artifacts as well as Western American paintings and sculptures collected by buinessman and philanthropist Harrison Eiteljorg (1903-1997). The museum also houses one of the finest collections of Native contemporary art in the World. The museum is currently part of Indianapolis' White River State Park which also houses the Indiana State Museum, the Indianapolis Zoo, the White River Gardens, NCAA Hall of Champions, Victory Field and Military Park.
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Conner Prairie was begun when pharmaceutical executive Eli Lilly donated the Conner home and surrounding farm to the Quaker liberal arts school, Earlham College in the early 1960s. Earlham ran Conner Prairie as a wholly-owned subsidiary and it grew from a local tourist attraction and educational outreach for the College into the highly regarded institution it is today. As Conner Prairie gained increasing strength and independence, tension developed with Earlham. After a lengthy and contentious legal struggle with Earlham, the museum became completely independent as a result of a plan brokered by Indiana's attorney general. Conner Prairie now has its own board of directors and maintains its own finances and endowment fund.
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The mall consists of over 100 stores on four levels with a gross leasable area of 786,000 square feet, and is anchored by three-level Nordstrom and Carson Pirie Scott stores. A Carson's home store of 15,000 square feet was added in 2007. The third level features a food court. The fourth level was formerly devoted to entertainment such as a brewery and other over-21 attractions. It currently contains a GameWorks arcade and a nine-screen United Artists movie theater.
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