INDIANAPOLIS — A project that will change downtown Indianapolis' skyline just hit another milestone.
You’ve probably seen construction crews near Illinois and Georgia streets working in a giant hole. That hole will soon become the sixth expansion for the Indiana Convention Center and an 800-room Signia by Hilton Hotel.
“It will help solidify Indianapolis as the greatest sporting event city in America,” Mayor Joe Hogsett said.
For months, dozens of workers and two towering cranes have been working in sync to lay the foundation of the city’s newest project.
Just last weekend, crews set a record for the largest continuous concrete pour in the city’s history.
The concrete pour began at 1 a.m. on June 1 and ran for approximately 12 hours with completion Saturday afternoon. The pour featured more than 800 concrete trucks filled with concrete from eight Indiana IMI facilities. Trucks delivered 7,347 cubic yards of concrete, enough to fill two-and-a-half Olympic-sized swimming pools.
“It’s niche, right? It kind of lets us geek out on the construction side, but it’s just so important to get this project started after years and years of talking about it,” said Andy Mallon, the executive director of the Capital Improvement Board.
The concrete is supported by 1,000 tons of reinforcing bars and will reach full strength in 56 days. Eventually, the whole footprint of the site will be covered with concrete.
“Just imagine what we will be able to do once it is done,” Hogsett said.
Once complete, the 38-story hotel will be the tallest in the city and house one of the top 10 convention center ballrooms by size in the U.S. This will allow Indy to host two city-wide conventions at the same time.
“It’s literally changing our city’s skyline. It’s literally creating new tourism jobs, and it’s literally bringing new conventions to our city that never thought they would book here in Indianapolis,” said Chris Gahl, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Visit Indy.
According to Visit Indy, the project is already paying off by helping the city retain $1.3 billion in convention business, while adding more than $1 billion in new convention business. Some of these groups are booking out as far as 2036.
“Conventions that have never looked at Indianapolis – they couldn’t fit or didn’t think we had the brand appeal — this project is turning their heads towards Indianapolis and generating future convention business,” Gahl said.
The last time the convention center expanded was in 2011 and was built in conjunction with the JW Marriott.
This fall, the structural concrete frame will begin to go vertical. The project is expected to be done in fall 2026.