Without the Coliseum: Options

As soon as the news broke this week that the Indiana State Fairgrounds is shutting down the Pepsi Coliseum for two years to pour $3.8 million into renovations (primarily in the interior), it took half a second for my brain (and likely, the one of every other hockey fan in Indianapolis) to ask the question "so, what about the Ice?"

The Coliseum has been the primary ice rink in the city since 1939 -- although it has served alongside Market Square Arena from 1974-99 and Conseco/Bankers Life Fieldhouse ever since. All eight Indianapolis championship teams have called it home. While it has gone through some cosmetic improvements -- especially with regards to the concourses -- the seating bowl hasn't changed much since the paint dried while the Capitals played their first game in front of a packed house of curious onlookers.

It will certainly be a centerpiece of a new era of hockey in the city. One of Indianapolis' primary difficulties has been the lack of a strong secondary arena to Bankers Life Fieldhouse downtown. Former Indianapolis Ice owner Gary Pedigo spoke of building a new rink that would be shared with IUPUI and the Indianapolis Tennis Center and have a retractable roof, but nothing came of it -- Pedigo sold the Ice to Horn Chen, IUPUI still plays in its tiny on-campus gymnasium that it has used since it was an NAIA program, and the Indianapolis Tennis Center has been dismantled. Meanwhile, there's a gigantic hole in downtown where that perfect secondary arena -- MSA -- once stood.

The Coliseum, therefore, has served as that secondary arena, but it is one of the oldest active hockey rinks in the country, and will likely be a showpiece post-renovation.

But still, there's the big unanswered question: Where are the Ice going to play?


Here are some options -- and note, this is my educated opinion and not based on any conversations with any team officials, so it is for discussion purposes only. (more below the jump)