Although the opening of a 22,000-seat arena in Louisville is still three years away, officials here are already bracing for
a raid on Indianapolis and Conseco Fieldhouse events. Several Indianapolis interests will be watching Aug. 20 as the Louisville
Arena Authority unveils designs for the arena along the Ohio River.
The high-stakes competition for control of Indiana Downs has entered the homestretch. And South Bend-based Oliver Racing LLC
is poised to win.
Working three years on one project can be tedious, but Mark Sims enjoys every minute he spends preparing dinosaur fossils
for display at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Sims, 44, works in the Paleo Prep Lab at the museum’s Dinosphere exhibit,
picking away at the dirt left on 65-million-year-old fossils.
The son and grandson of hotel managers, Maarten van Wijk became general manager of the historic-but-ailing 2,000-member Columbia
Club in May. His first priority is to polish the venerable private club’s tarnished quality standards to a lustrous sheen.
One of the two massive trade shows forced to leave Indianapolis because of a convention center space crunch isn’t coming back
as soon as expected. Locally based Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association is changing course three years after
agreeing to return its fall CEDIA Expo to Indianapolis for four years beginning in September 2010.
Phil Ramsey, 65, knows what he’s doing in the fireworks business–he’s been working fireworks shows as a volunteer since 1968
and founded Frankfort-based Ramsey Pyrotechnics Inc. in 1982. When he’s not battling Mother Nature, Ramsey is a grain farmer.
Once reserved for upper-crust weddings, ice sculptures-and their creators-have gone mainstream, finding their way to business
meetings, personal parties and hotel receptions nationwide. Of the 500 U.S. professional sculptors who design the icy artwork,
10 practice their craft in Indiana.
Indiana’s two horse tracks could change hands as investors race to come up with the $250 million required to add thousands
of slot machines. The steep cost of a state license combined with the potential of a lucrative payoff has stakeholders in
Shelbyville-based Indiana Downs and Anderson-based Hoosier Park jockeying for position.
As state and city officials sit down with architects to hammer out final plans for the Indiana Convention Center expansion,
they’re cutting some bells and whistles to make sure the project comes in at its $275 million price tag.
Many people expected the 2007 season to be the swan song for Verizon Wireless Music Center after venue owner Live Nation put
the the popular amphitheater on the block in December. But no acceptable offers have been received, and several local brokers
say the unofficial asking price of more than $40 million is outrageous.
Two weeks before the annual Jazz Fest begins, donations and corporate sponsorships are running about $150,000 short of the $1.3 million budget. So organizers are aiming to boost ticket sales by eliminating the $8.50 Ticketmaster fee.
During their first half-decade in operation, the state's casino slots machines grew their total sales to $22 billion,
according to Indiana Gaming Commission records. But in the last five years, slot sales grew just 18 percent, reaching $25.9
billion in 2006. That's what business textbooks call a maturing market.
The new Indiana State Museum building–a 230,000-square-foot study in glass, steel and limestone–opened in 2002 to blockbuster
attendance, with nearly 260,000 of its 614,000 total visitors checking out the exhibits. Fast forward to its five-year anniversary
and the news isn’t so rosy.
Indianapolis businessman Barton Kaufman is auctioning off 26 paintings by notable New York artist LeRoy Neiman. Kaufman plans
to donate the money to Indiana University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1962 and law degree in 1965.
A prestigious, full-service hotel soon will complement Carmel’s booming office market along North Meridian Street. A Cincinnati
developer broke ground this month on a roughly $30 million Renaissance hotel with 263 rooms and 14,000 square feet of meeting
space.
The stately 12-story Canterbury Hotel could use a renovation, hospitality analysts say, to restore some luster and help it
take on more modern competitors. Such an overhaul might be on the way, along with new owners for the independent boutique
hotel at 123 S. Illinois St.
Legislators are weighing a measure that would offer taxpayer-funded rebates to production companies willing to make movie
magic in Indiana–giving a boost to an industry that’s been asking for help since 2004.
Although he wears one of his two tuxedos for concerts, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra bassoonist Samuel Banks dons sneakers
and jeans for a Tuesday morning rehearsal. But he works hard once the music starts. That attitude likely helped the 26-year-old
land his job in one of just 17 year-round orchestras in the nation.
Members of the Red Hat Society get together monthly to celebrate life after 50, a demographic marketers often overlook. But
these women-and their spending habits-are attracting attention as the California-based club gains traction.
French Lick Resorts & Casino is already struggling, less than four months after its launch. And the casino’s owners are downright
terrified legislators soon will allow both of the state’s horse-racing tracks to become “racinos” and add up to 5,000 slot
machines.
