Gahl: Downtown development bringing added tourism boost
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowVisit Indy Executive Vice President Chris Gahl says the newly-christened Bicentennial Unity Plaza at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis is already garnering interest from potential tourism events.
Gahl told Inside INdiana Business Host Gerry Dick that the city has nearly $2 billion in tourism-related projects coming online in the next four years, and the plaza is a linchpin to that development.
“This is such a user-friendly meeting planner, event-focused space that we know is already catching the attention of those who are saying, ‘Wow, how can we utilize this space as part of a meeting in Indianapolis?'” Gahl said.
The addition to new hotels, such as the 40-story, 800-room Signia by Hilton hotel that will be built as part of an expansion of the Indiana Convention Center, is positioning Indianapolis as an ascending city, Gahl said.
“There’s a polish to our city that people want to be a part of, and that’s helping us coming out of this pandemic to attract bigger and larger conventions and and keep those safe and sound who had thought about leaving,” he said.
The $800 million convention center expansion and Signia hotel project is designed to reshape Pan Am Plaza in downtown Indy. The convention center will grow by 143,500 square feet, including a 50,000-square-foot ballroom, and plans also call for restaurant and retail space, and additional parking.
Our partners at the IBJ reported last week that the design plans for the project received unanimous approval by the Regional Center Hearing Examiner. The city’s Metropolitan Development Commission will hold a hearing on the designs at its Sept. 20 meeting.
Gahl said what will be the sixth expansion of the convention center has already paid off with Gen Con and Drum Corps International renewing their commitment to staying in Indy because of the project. And an as-yet-unnamed convention is also considering Indy for the first time.
“Just this week, we have a group in the city that would [host] a citywide convention. They’ve never booked Indianapolis. It’d be for 2035. It would be National FFA-esque in terms of numbers,” he said. “They’re here because of that project. They’re here because of the newness, and they want to know what Indianapolis will look like in 2035 when they debate between Chicago and Indy for this major event.”
The expansion, Gahl said, puts Indianapolis in competition with even larger markets than before, including Dallas, Orlando, New York and Las Vegas.
“Every day, we’re going head to head with them, and we’re able to do that because we’ve expanded, we’ve gotten bigger facilities and complimentary hotel towers. But we can’t sit idle because we know those big cities now have our numbers.”