National swine show, athletic events announced for new fairgrounds building

The calendar for the multipurpose Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion is filling up.

Indiana State Fairgrounds officials opened the 196,000-square-foot building Thursday, sharing announcements of a national swine show and national track and field events on the horizon.

The novel combination of livestock hall and sports venue was noted by Gov. Eric Holcomb, who said he visited a nursing school Thursday before attending opening ceremonies at Fall Creek Pavilion.

“I mentioned that I was coming to the Swine Barn,” said Holcomb, using the name applied to the building since 1923. “They were thankful I went there first. I said, ‘No, no, you don’t understand, there’s going to be athletic competitions in this pavilion.’”

Cindy Hoye, executive director of the Indiana State Fair Commission, said it’s a necessity for any new building at the fairgrounds to serve at least more than one purpose.

In the livestock category, the West Lafayette-based National Swine Registry announced that Fall Creek Pavilion will host the 2024 and 2025 editions of the nation’s largest swine show, known as The Exposition. National Swine Registry CEO Matt Claeys said The Exposition, presented this year at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, features more than 2,000 purebred pigs and more than 1,000 human exhibitors.

In the athletics category, USA Track & Field CEO Max Siegel said Fall Creek Pavilion will host future editions of the USA Track & Field National Indoor Championships and USA Track & Field National Youth Indoor Championships.

Siegel said it’s too early to pinpoint specific years for those events. Albuquerque, New Mexico, served as the site for the 2023 overall indoor championships in February, while Louisville served as the site for the 2023 youth indoor championships in March.

Fall Creek Pavilion already is slated to host the 2025 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships.

A portable 200-meter, banked track will be installed annually to host track and field events. The building’s 25-foot ceiling will accommodate all indoor track and field events, Siegel said.

Fall Creek Pavilion’s $50 million price tag included a wing for public safety operations at the fairgrounds and the rerouting of a storm water system under the former Swine Barn.

The Swine Barn was razed for the Fall Creek Pavilion project, except for the salvaging and restoration of the building’s north facade.

Unlike the Swine Barn, Fall Creek Pavilion features air conditioning.

Last October, Kevin Shelley, principal project manager for Schmidt Associates, told IBJ about the building’s strategy for being scent-free when it’s not used for pig purposes.

“[During the Indiana State Fair], we have to be ready for that smell,” Shelley said. “So there was a lot of discussion about the number of openings around the building, with [13] overhead doors, to allow air in. And we needed floor surfaces that don’t absorb smell. Also, the ventilation system is set up so that there’s one level of exhaust for day-to-day use and another entire level for during swine use.”

Fall Creek Pavilion will be unveiled to the public during this year’s Indiana State Fair, scheduled July 28-Aug. 20. The fairgrounds will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Holcomb offered a joking aside about the renovation/construction project coming down to the wire, saying some paint in the building was still wet on Thursday.

Mitch Frazier, CEO of AgriNovus Indiana, said the dual nature of Fall Creek Pavilion is worthy of celebration.

“This is a place where young kids in 4-H and FFA will see what hard work and perseverance means,” Frazier said. “They’ll see what those long days and short nights mean. And we’re going to see student-athletes, who have worked for years to turn their hard work into personal bests.”

Indiana Farm Bureau has a 15-year agreement as the building’s naming-rights sponsor.