Indy touts planned green spaces as convention attraction

The gravel path enclosed by a construction gate at the front door of the Indiana Convention Center is set to become the newest iteration of Georgia Street next spring, one focused on green space and pedestrians.

The plaza will provide shade and natural amenities for Indianapolis residents, but stakeholders also hope the revamp—along with the adjacent Signia by Hilton scheduled to open late next year and other green-space plans—will draw more convention and event business.

Competition for major conventions is increasingly stiff, and the $780 million Signia hotel is part of the city’s swing for even more wins. Recent investments in green spaces and public space programming—although not directly aimed at visitors—might help, according to research conducted by Visit Indy.

Chris Gahl, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Visit Indy, told IBJ that research last year showed event planners want convention destinations that not only are walkable and connected but also include green space for daytime recreation or nighttime events and receptions.

That research led Visit Indy to buy sponsored content on Associations Now, the media arm of the American Society of Association Executives. The $2,500 Visit Indy article highlights Georgia Street—along with the planned Henry Street Bridge and White River State Park expansion several blocks west—as places where Indy is “redefining the event experience with green space.”

Gahl said a combined $3 billion in planned development—which also includes a $600 million revamp of Circle Centre Mall and the $312 million Shinola Hotel and event center across from Gainbridge Fieldhouse—creates a “very compelling case for meeting decision-makers to book Indianapolis.”

Visit Indy’s article features the headline, “A Breath of Fresh Air: How Indy is Redefining the Event Experience With Green Space.” The paid placement advertises the downtown projects that prioritize pedestrians and green space.

“As the city undergoes a $3 billion wave of tourism-related development, it’s doing something rare: placing green space at the center of the convention experience. Here, fresh air and flexibility aren’t just amenities—they’re built into the meeting design,” the story reads.

The piece touches on Georgia Street, which it describes as being “completely reimagined” into a parklike pedestrian plaza closed to vehicular traffic.

It mentions the White River State Park expansion a mile away, which will add 15 acres of flexible green space, riverfront trails and a new event venue to the west side of downtown.

The article says “it’s all connected by Indy’s expansive, ever-growing trail network.” The Indianapolis Cultural Trail is scheduled to extend west from Capitol Avenue, and across the planned Henry Street Bridge, by the end of next year.

“In Indy, outdoor space isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a core part of the convention experience,” the story concludes.

Visit Indy often bids to host conventions up to a decade in advance, so it paints a picture of what Indianapolis will look like in several years.

“We’re selling and marketing through renderings and also future developments that are on the horizon,” Gahl said. “There’s a hunger to always put all those pieces together from a city development perspective and then serve it up in the form of marketing.”

Gahl said Visit Indy spends just $250,000 annually on paid ads. It maintains a $19.7 million budget, which is almost entirely funded by the Capital Improvement Board of Marion County.

The ad buy comes at a time when peer cities—like Denver, San Antonio, Austin and Nashville—are putting a “bright spotlight” on park spaces and walkability, Gahl said.

“Those are four cities we monitor, we watch, we candidly admire, and that is part of the overall marketing equation on how we position Indianapolis,” he said.

The ad buy comes as the Georgia Street revamp is underway.

Chris Merritt, founding principal of landscape architect Merritt Chase, designed the redevelopment of Georgia Street. He worked with Visit Indy, the Capital Improvement Board and city leaders to identify which competitors were creating similar, pedestrian-focused spaces.

Competing cities like Boston, Phoenix and Kansas City, Missouri, have crafted public spaces that city leaders took inspiration from.

An 80,000-square-foot outdoor space in Phoenix, called Canyon on Third, and Boston’s 2.7-acre park, The Lawn on D, served as examples of spaces that include outdoor hosting opportunities.

Still, Merritt, an Indianapolis native who works on projects throughout the Midwest, said Indianapolis’ Georgia Street has few precedents.

Georgia Street was converted into the space that downtown visitors know today just in time for the city to host the 2012 Super Bowl. The $12.5 million project created a plaza for tents, seating and food service during major events and conventions. Around that same time—in 2011—former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard considered changing the name of the historic street but ultimately left it alone.

Less than a decade after that major investment, Andy Mallon, executive director of the Capital Improvement Board, began thinking about another change. The CIB oversees Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center operations and owns Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Victory Field. It also works with other stakeholders on tourism and economic development.

Mallon saw a pandemic-driven demand for outdoor meeting spaces. At the same time, Mayor Joe Hogsett was in the process of implementing a post-pandemic downtown resiliency plan.

Megan Vukusich, director of the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, said that was when the administration began to focus on downtown public spaces.

Indy DMD worked with consultants, like Merritt Chase and cultural organization GangGang, to collect public opinions through a widespread poll and determine recommendations for the southern portions of downtown. That document, called the South Downtown Connectivity Vision Plan, recommended in 2023 that officials invest in Georgia Street.

It said the current iteration “suffers from lack of maintenance, inactive groundfloors, lack of flexible, programmable space and frequent pedestrian and vehicular conflicts.”

Almost serendipitously, Mallon said, all that work “coalesced” into stakeholders’ landing on a decision to create a parklike atmosphere on the west block of Georgia Street.

The $9 million project is expected to be complete next spring.•