Colts to expand 56th Street training complex

The Indianapolis Colts are planning a nearly 7,500-square-foot addition to their 56th Street training facility on the city’s west side.

The expansion makes way for an indoor swimming pool and additional administrative space. The project also could include expansion of the facility’s cramped lobby.

Bids went out last week for the expansion, said Colts Chief Financial Officer Pete Ward, and work is projected to be done by the end of this year.

“We just need a little more office and meeting space, and the pool is a rehabilitation and therapy pool for the players,” Ward explained.

Currently, the Colts players use a smaller Swimex pool for rehabilitating and training players, Ward said.

The 30-year-old facility, now called the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, has undergone several expansions, including one in 2010 that added several putting greens. (They’re used to help players relax and also for youth clinics and other activities.) During one of the previous expansions, the lobby area was shrunk to make way for additional office space.

“We want to expand the lobby a bit in the near future. We’re just not sure when we’re going to get that done,” Ward said. “We just think the main entry to the facility needs to have a little more room.”

The massive complex set on 31 acres at 7001 W. 56th St. includes administrative office spaces, a large indoor meeting space used for public and private events, indoor and outdoor football fields, film rooms, coaches’ offices, locker rooms and other training areas.

The planned expansion may have the Colts busting at the seams at the team's current location.

"There is not much room to grow, really, due to the parking space needed for our community pavilion, which attracts about three events per week," Ward said. "And the goal is to maintain as much green space as possible."