Colts not planning to require masks at home games
The Colts expect the fan experience to be closer to normal after 2020 season that saw strict crowd limits and fewer promotions and activities than those seen in a typical year.
Tourism & Hospitality
Articles
Regional airline launching service from Indy with 3 routes
Contour Airlines initially agreed to launch the three nonstop U.S. flights in June 2020, but the pandemic grounded its plans.
IBJ Podcast: Downtown hotel projects pipeline largely intact despite pandemic
Host Mason King chats with IBJ real estate reporter Mickey Shuey about the state of the hotel industry in Indy and which projects are completed, underway and on hold.
Slow start for tourism pass turns to promising uptick
Visit Indy has seen an uptick in the popularity of its attraction pass this summer, after the tourism group added new locations, reduced the cost and added an option to bundle the pass with hotel rooms.
Indy’s hotel pipeline remains strong despite strains of pandemic
None of the projects in Indy’s central business district has definitively been canceled since the pandemic began, IBJ research has found. In fact, three new downtown properties have opened since last December, with another three scheduled to debut later this year.
PHOTO GALLERY: Digital art space The Lume set to open at Newfields
The Lume, a permanent exhibition space engineered by Austrialia-based Grande Experiences, will feature 30 works by artist Vincent Van Gogh showcased through floor-to-ceiling projections.
Indy Shorts film festival continues growth as standalone event
The Indy Shorts International Film Festival, which gets under way Tuesday, has expanded in size and popularity since its founding as part of the Heartland International Film Festival in 2018.
New downtown restaurant to pay tribute to Hulman family
The Hulman restaurant is the result of a partnership with the IMS Museum, which holds rights to Tony Hulman’s name and likeness.
Billionaire Branson reaches space in his own ship, beating Bezos
The brief, up-and-down flight—about as long as Alan Shepard’s first U.S. spaceflight in 1961—was a splashy and unabashedly commercial plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year.
Indy is working to hold onto Combine even as NFL seeks other suitors
The league’s decision to invite other cities to bid to host its Scouting Combine didn’t come as a surprise to local leaders, and it gave them a head start on designing a bid that could keep the Combine in town beyond 2022.
Indiana State Fair announces 23 new vendor menu items
The Indiana State Fair is set to offer new food items this year that will be featured in its “Taste of the Fair” contest, includes everything from a funnel-cake-inspired beer to a grilled cheese sandwich made with waffles.
Sports bar Champps ends 20-year run in downtown Indianapolis
The downtown sports bar and casual dining restaurant opened in Circle Centre at the corner of Washington and Illinois streets in 2001 as Champps Americana.
IBJ Podcast: Why a Chicago trade show displaced by the pandemic picked Indy
IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey talks with John Downs, the CEO of the National Confectioners Association, to find out why the group decided to host its signature trade show—The Sweets & Snacks Expo—in person this year and how it picked Indianapolis to be the event’s location.
CEO: ‘There’s a groundswell of support’ for candy expo to return to Indy
Indianapolis this week welcomed the Sweets & Snacks Expo at the Indiana Convention Center—its first major trade show since March 2020. John Downs, chief of the organization that organizes the event, said he’d like to see it return to Indianapolis in the future.
NFL to seek bids from other cities to host Scouting Combine starting in 2023
Indianapolis has hosted the NFL Scouting Combine every year since 1987 but will soon have to compete with other cities for the event.
Westfield, Grand Park launch sports tourism R&D hub
The Grand Park Research & Development Hub will use the 400-acre youth sports campus as a testing ground for new technologies, services and research projects related to facilities and activities in the sports tourism industry.
Speedway considering legal options for stalled Wilshaw project
The town of Speedway is considering legal action against the developer of the long-delayed Wilshaw hotel project, after the company declined its requests to provide a public update Monday night on the development’s status.
Capital Improvement Board sees first financially positive month since pandemic
The operator of the city’s convention facilities reported its best monthly financial performance since the pandemic led the Indiana Convention Center to temporarily close down in March 2020.
City Market moves forward with rent-deferment program
A struggling Indianapolis City Market is offering a rent-deferment program that could help merchants who’ve been hit hard by the pandemic and road reconstruction. The move comes as the market is looking at its own finances, with plans to ask the city for a bailout.
Communities along White River form coalition to leverage new statewide grant funding
Government leaders in Anderson, Carmel, Fishers, Indianapolis, Noblesville, Westfield, and Hamilton and Madison counties, have joined together to secure funding for redevelopment and economic investment projects along the White River.