Market Square Arena

Market Square Arena

Market Square Arena in 1982
Location	300 East Market Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Coordinates	39°46′6″N 86°9′7″W / 39.76833°N 86.15194°W / 39.76833; -86.15194Coordinates: 39°46′6″N 86°9′7″W / 39.76833°N 86.15194°W / 39.76833; -86.15194
Owner	City of Indianapolis
Operator	City of Indianapolis
Capacity	Basketball: 16,530 Ice hockey: 15,993
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground	October 20, 1971
Opened	September 15, 1974
Renovated	1995
Closed	October 24, 1999
Demolished	July 8, 2001
Construction cost	$23 million ($112 million in 2017 dollars)
Architect	Architects 4 (A Joint Venture): Kennedy, Brown & Associates Fleck, Burkart, Shropshire, Boots, Reid & Associates McGuire & Shook Corportation
Structural engineer	J. Robert Carlton & Associates Inc.
General contractor	Huber, Hunt & Nichols
Tenants
Indiana Pacers (NBA) (1974–1999) Indianapolis Racers (WHA) (1974–1978) Indianapolis Checkers (IHL) (1985–1987) Indianapolis Ice (IHL) (1988–1999) Indiana Twisters (CISL) (1996–1997)

Market Square Arena was an indoor arena located in Indianapolis. Completed in 1974, at a cost of $23 million, it seated 16,530 for basketball and 15,993 for ice hockey. Seating capacity for concerts and other events was adjusted by the use of large curtains which sealed off the upper rows.

In the late 1960s, the city of Indianapolis studied several market areas of the city for future development and revitalization. Students from the fourth-year design studio class at Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning met with the City of Indianapolis to review and select 20–26 projects for consideration. Students Joseph Mynhier and Terry Pastorino selected downtown Indianapolis as their market and designed what would eventually become Market Square Arena. The design envisioned by Mynhier and Pastorino was later selected and used as a promotional tool by the City of Indianapolis for construction of the stadium. Four architectural firms were selected by the city to complete the arena design with two representatives from each of the four companies. Terry Pastorino, who had worked for Kennedy, Brown & Trueblood, Inc., during the summer of 1970 on the project, later joined the firm working on the arena.

The original student design included a four-story office building covering two city blocks. The Market Square Arena as constructed consisted of a unique space frame design spanning Market Street. The playing floor was elevated over Market Street by parking garages on either side of Market Street. Market Street terminated at Market Square Arena to the east and to the west by the capitol building. The final design eventually took up one city block spanning Market Street.

Market Square Arena's original center-hung scoreboard was an American Sign and Indicator scoreboard similar to those which would be installed at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Joe Louis Arena. Its replacement, a center-hung White Way Sign scoreboard with a color matrix screen on each side (the AS&I scoreboard had monochrome matrix screens), was installed in time for the 1985 NBA All-Star Game and remained at the arena for the rest of its life, where it would later be complimented by front-projection video screens on each end of the arena (complete with RCA projectors).