PHOTOS: Bicentennial Unity Plaza opens with plenty to offer
The $28.47 million dollar project opened in August to be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. Here's a photo gallery of the finished product.
Pacers Sports & Entertainment’s latest attraction officially opened nearly one month ago. Back on Aug. 24, the organization held a ribbon-cutting ceremony before they made it available for all to enjoy.
Named Bicentennial Unity Plaza, the hope is for it to become a versatile space for locals and visitors alike. The project, which cost $28.47 million, was all thanks to a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and was a sizable part of the ongoing construction outside of Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The biggest attraction is the basketball court, which will be converted for ice skating in the winter. Yeah, very cool.
This is all free and open to all.
During the first weekend, they held a pre-game party for an Indiana Fever game, a happy hour with a DJ, cocktails and local food, and even a free basketball clinic for basketball. Plus, it was a stop on the recent Indy Ultimate event. There’s even a concession stand that opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday.
I think this will be a popular spot before Pacers games. We’ll see soon enough…
Moreover, there’s live music on the way: a night of Indy Jazz and then the duo Walker County on Oct. 4th and 5th, respectively. (Tickets required for those two shows.)
I was out of town for the public opening so I recently walked over to see the completed project. And I wanted to share that experience with you. (No surprise that the hardworking Doug Weitkamp from facilities was around and taking care of the place.)
I know many of you live in Indianapolis or surrounding cities, but most subscribers here do not.
In fact, there are subscribers from 46 of 50 states, along with 67 countries. It's amazing and something I do not take for granted. (For fun: the only four U.S. states without someone subscribed to Fieldhouse Files are Alaska, Idaho, Mississippi and Montana. Let’s change that.)
So whether you will be able to visit in person some time soon or not, take a look at the finished project below.