Bicentennial Unity Plaza seeks to bring community together
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe final piece of the $400 million renovation of Gainbridge Fieldhouse is officially open. Bicentennial Unity Plaza is a $30 million mix of sculptures, art and a basketball court that will transformed into an ice skating rink larger than the one at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
But Pacers Sports & Entertainment President and Chief Operating Officer Mel Raines says the plaza, which is about seven years in the making, is about more than basketball.
“We really wanted this to be a place that was active 365 days a year, where we could bring ice skating back to downtown in the winter…but also to host basketball tournaments and sunrise yoga and farmers markets and every kind of activity you could imagine,” Rains said on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick. “So I think we’ve accomplished that, but it was very intentional planning.”
Pacers Sports & Entertainment joined officials from the city and other community leaders on Thursday to cut the ribbon on the plaza, and events were held throughout the weekend to celebrate its opening.
Rains said the name Bicentennial Unity Plaza is designed to both pay homage to the past but to also look ahead. She said because the city’s bicentennial took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, they didn’t get to celebrate like they would have hoped.
“This is really an homage to the 200-year history of Indianapolis in many ways, from the mural that the Arts Council is working with us on to the content on the sphere video to the Together statue,” she said. “We’re always striving to come together. We’re not quite there yet. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep trying. The hope is that the community is using this all the time.”
But when the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever are getting ready to take to the hardwood, Raines said the plaza will add to the game day experience.
“We can’t wait for Oct. 25, opening night for Pacers season,” she said. “We’ll have a big pregame party on the plaza that we’ve never been able to do before and celebrate what we hope is a really great Pacers season.”
But the basketball court at the plaza will also serve as center court of sorts when Indianapolis hosts the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in February.
It’ll be the first time in nearly 40 years that Indy has hosted the annual event, and downtown Indianapolis looks much different. Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO Rick Fuson says the game itself has changed.
“When the NBA comes here this time, you know, this game will be seen in 200 countries in 40 some languages, and it’s exponentially bigger than it was in 1985,” Fuson said. “it’s a great opportunity for Indianapolis to continue to shine in the international spotlight.”
Fuson echoed the sentiments that Bicentennial Unity Plaza will be a place, an activity spot, that the community hasn’t seen much of, especially downtown.
“We’ll have all kinds of events across weekends, on a daily basis, whatever the case may be,” he said. “But to be able to have kids down to look at the sphere, to be able to have kids down to look at the mural, to have all kinds of different people to look at the Together sculpture, I think it’s going to be a place where you want to come and take a picture.”
Fuson said he believes the plaza will be likened to the famous Bean in Chicago.
You can learn more about Bicentennial Unity Plaza by clicking here.