A recent IndyStar report detailed the new renovations coming to Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the next few years. While the Indiana Pacers won’t be affected, the stadium will lose their WNBA partner Indiana Fever for at least two seasons.
We knew that the recent 25-year lease extension that keeps the Indiana Pacers and Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis would bring some changes around the office, and a recent IndyStar report provided the details.
Bankers Life Fieldhouse will gain outdoor plaza with skating, lose Fever for two seasons https://t.co/e0pjcTJvUs pic.twitter.com/zoI8mIJ105
— IndyStar (@indystar) June 24, 2019
Phase one of the renovations will begin in February of 2020, one year before the NBA heads up to Indianapolis for All-Star Weekend. This phase will contain minor renovations and won’t have any effect on the latter half of the Pacers home schedule.
Phase two begins after the 2021 All-Star game and will continue through the rest of the calendar year. These will be the most tangible renovations, as the phase includes an expansion of the entry pavilion and the construction of an outdoor plaza.
For those who always wanted to be able to ice skate in the middle of downtown, your prayers were answered, as the plaza will be converted into an ice rink during the winter.
The final phase of renovations will take place in 2022 with a target end date of October 22, right before the Pacers begin their 2022-23 campaign.
The top eight rows on the east and west ends of the stadium will be removed during the renovations to make way for public standing areas, and observation decks and suite enhancements are coming soon as well.
Unfortunately, most of the renovations will be made in the summer of the next few years, meaning that the Indiana Fever (and big-time concert acts) will have to find a new home until at least 2022.
Fortunately, this is Indiana, so the Fever will have a few options for a temporary home. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but Hinkle Fieldhouse and Indiana Farmers Coliseum are both venues with the capacity and history to do Indiana’s WNBA franchise proper justice.
The renovations won’t affect the Pacers schedule, though the stadium experience will be a little bit different. A fitting change for an arena that will have a new name very soon.