| $800M
Convention, Sports Venue Proposed An $800 million mega-project has been
proposed to bring a new sports and convention venue to Indianapolis.
The
city and the Marion County Capital Improvement Board (CIB) revealed the proposal
recently at a news conference at the RCA Dome. Indianapolis
Mayor Bart
Peterson announced the plan with Indianapolis Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay, CIB
President Fred Glass and others.
The proposal will go forward pending the
approval of funding by the Indiana General Assembly and the Indianapolis-Marion
County City-County Council.
The project would entail a multi-use venue
that includes the expansion of the Indiana Convention Center. Several conventions
that have traditionally been held in the facility are departing because it lacks
sufficient space.
Officials hope to recapture lost business and lure new
conventions to Indianapolis with the project.
In sports, the project would
provide a new home for the National Collegiate Athletic Association's March Madness
basketball tournament games for the next four decades.
The city hopes to
provide a first-class facility to fulfill its obligations, the CIB said. Earlier
this year, the NCAA announced an agreement with the state and city that designates
Indianapolis as the permanent back-up site for the men's and women's Final Four
tournaments.
The project hopes to keep the National Football League's Indianapolis
Colts in the state for 30 more years and provide the chance to bid for the NFL's
Super Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine, an event that allows the NFL owners to
scout college football stars.
City officials have been in planning for
a transit center downtown, which would be in the immediate vicinity of the venture.
Indianapolis-based
Hunt Construction Group Inc. would serve as construction manager. Dallas-based
HKS would be the primary architect for the venue.
No general contractor
was announced. Ratio's Design for Simon Office
OKd Construction has started on Simon Property Group Inc.'s
13-story headquarters in downtown Indianapolis based on the design of Indianapolis-based
Ratio Architects Inc.
Simon filed the design to replace one by an Atlanta
firm. The switch was made because of criticism of the original design.
The
13-story building will be constructed between the state Capitol and the Indiana
Convention Center.Report Projects
Labor Shortage Increase The demand for construction is
projected to create a skilled craft labor shortage in Indianapolis.
Indeed,
a shortage of 637 workers is projected for this year 2005. And the figure swells
to 6,185 workers by 2008.
The projection is made in report released by
Raleigh, N.C.-based FMI Corp., "Indiana Construction Roundtable Central Indiana
Craft Labor Study Update."
"A lot of construction end-users don't
pay close attention to the apprentice training systems, thinking the issue of
workforce development will take care of itself," said Jeff Vincent, research
director with the Indiana University Institute for the Study of Labor in Society.
"But apprenticeships do need to be analyzed to check their effectiveness.
We want to have a workforce that is ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow."
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