INDIANAPOLIS — On August 1, the Indiana Convention Center (ICC) broke ground on its 143,500-square-foot expansion, which will also see the construction of a new convention hotel. The project is part of a strategic plan to spur growth in downtown Indianapolis.
The expansion, the ICC’s sixth, is expected to be completed in 2026 and will place the ICC in the top 10 convention center ballrooms by size in the United States. With the additional space created by the project, the ICC will also have the capacity to host two citywide conventions simultaneously. The new expansion will connect the existing convention center with a skywalk over Capitol Avenue.
Another part of the expansion project is the construction of a new Signia by Hilton hotel on the site. The hotel will be the tallest in the city, with 40 floors and 800 rooms. Air-conditioned walkways will also connect more than 5,500 hotel rooms to the convention center once the expansion is complete.
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The additional convention space and hotel rooms are welcome news for trade show and exhibition organizers looking to continue growing their events in Indianapolis.
“From 2010 to June 2023, Visit Indy tracked 1,800 potential meetings that were unable to convene in the city due to lack of space and/or dates, representing a total of $4.1 billion in lost business,” said Leonard Hoops, president and CEO of Visit Indy. “We believe this expansion will allow Visit Indy to restart conversations with these groups and steer them in the right direction. We also know the project will help us retain $300 million worth of flagship annual conventions, our large annuals that were outgrowing our city.”
The ICC hosts annual conventions including the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show, Indiana Black Expo, National FFA Convention & Expo, and Gen Con.
Contact Leonard Hoops at (317) 262-3000 or lhoops@VisitIndy.com