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About a year before the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend, the league asked Pacers Sports & Entertainment President Mel Raines if Indianapolis could host the event. An initial host plan in another city had already fallen through.
Raines, of course, said yes. The city had just hosted NBA All-Star Weekend in February 2024, so taking on the WNBA version of the event was a natural. But there are some differences. Planners only had months rather than years to finalize the details for the WNBA event. The WNBA event—being in the summer rather than winter or early spring—also is landing at a time when torn-up roads and detours around Indianapolis are being compounded by work on multiple private developments in the city’s core.
Raines said she initially underestimated the construction season’s impact on a summer event. For instance, just on Georgia Street, a major host to celebrations of athletic events outside of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, ongoing commercial construction projects include a 37-story convention center hotel and a 4,000-seat live-performance venue and hotel from Pacers Sports & Entertainment owner Herb Simon.
Raines said stakeholders had to figure out how to quickly make decisions on how best to show off the city amid the drone of summer construction from both public entities and private developers.
“Cranes are progress. I don’t want to be in a city where there aren’t any,” Raines told IBJ. “It’s a good thing for us, but how we dress that up and tell that story to people coming from out of town is important.”
Construction on both hotels created unusable space for Georgia Street’s entertainment zone. The west block of the thoroughfare will be off-limits.
Still, the east and center blocks—those closest to Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Circle Centre Mall—will roll out the orange carpet. From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, the remainder of the street will play host to The Court Yard bar and cafe, DJs, photo opportunities and merchandise.
Monument Circle will also be the site of several activations even though the Soldiers and Sailors Monument is surrounded by chain-link fencing. Workers are replacing the state-owned structure’s damaged stairs.
Taylor Schaffer, CEO of beautification and public safety for nonprofit Downtown Indy Inc., said “thoughtful touches,” like a new wrap around the fencing and an artist-commissioned wrap around scaffolding at a North Meridian Street hotel project just south of Monument Circle will create a desirable place for events, including the All-Star Bounce, in which 2,500 kids will dribble basketballs a half-mile through downtown.
She joked that at least the WNBA’s signature color matches the orange barrels on Indiana roadways. It’s a unique time for Indianapolis, she said, because so many different types of construction are happening that illustrate further investment into the city.
Work on West Street is ongoing by the Indiana Department of Transportation. West Ohio Street is closed due to work on the new Indiana Archives Building. A hotel project along Pennsylvania Street has the thoroughfare reduced by a lane just north of Washington Street.
What to know about traffic, closures
Traffic will likely be impacted in Indianapolis due to state work on Interstate 65, as well as other road construction projects throughout the city.
Other Indianapolis roads will be closed due to construction, including:
• Illinois Street from South Street to Georgia Street northbound;
• Georgia Street westbound from Illinois Street to Capitol Avenue;
• and Georgia Street eastbound from Capitol Avenue to Illinois Street.
Expect other street closures due to WNBA All-Star Weekend events.
At some point over the weekend, all of Monument Circle will be closed for WNBA All-Star activities and Spark on the Circle, a seasonal pop-up park that occupies the northwestern quadrant of the Circle.
The south half of the roundabout will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning 8 a.m. on Wednesday. It will reopen at 6 p.m. Sunday.
The northeastern quadrant, home to the Salesforce Tower, will also be closed from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
From 8 a.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Sunday, the eastbound lane of Georgia Street will be closed from Illinois to Meridian streets and Meridian to Pennsylvania street. During that time, side streets stemming from Georgia will also be closed to traffic. Northbound Scioto Street will close between Louisiana and Georgia streets; and southbound McCrea Street will close between Georgia and Jackson streets.
On Friday, Delaware Street between South and Maryland streets will be closed from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., during the 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge events. The same area will be closed from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday during the All-Star Game.
Due to the All-Star Bounce event on Saturday, roads will see temporary closures from the American Legion Mall extending south along Meridian Street to Monument Circle from 7 a.m. to noon.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to remove a reference to interstate closures. INDOT announced Thursday afternoon that it would cancel the planned closure of I-65, citing forecasted inclement weather.
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I’ve seen lane closures on West street for the last few weeks, but no visible activity?