Hinkle Fieldhouse

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Hinkle Fieldhouse
nickname =


fullname =
location = 510 W 49th Street
Indianapolis, Indiana
coordinates =
broke_ground =
built = 1928
opened = March 7, 1928
renovated = 1989
expanded =
closed =
demolished =
owner = Butler University
operator =
surface =
construction_cost = $1,000,000
architect = Fermor Spencer Cannon
structural engineer =
services engineer =
general_contractor=
project_manager =
main_contractors =
former_names =
tenants = Butler Bulldogs (Horizon League) 1928 - Present
seating_capacity = 10,757
dimensions =Infobox_nrhp | name =Butler Fieldhouse
nrhp_type =nhl


caption =
location= Indianapolis, Indiana
lat_degrees = 39 | lat_minutes = 50 | lat_seconds = 36.29 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 86 | long_minutes = 10 | long_seconds = 2.42 | long_direction = W
locmapin=Indiana
area =
built =1927
architect= Cannon,Fermor S.
added = December 22, 1983
governing_body = Private
refnum=83003573 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2006-03-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Hinkle Fieldhouse is a basketball arena located on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. When it was built in 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States, and it retained that distinction until the late 1950s. It is the sixth-oldest college basketball arena still in use, and was the inspiration for the design of Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers.

History

Hinkle Fieldhouse and the 36,000-seat Butler Bowl football stadium were two of the first buildings erected when the university moved to the Fairview campus. The facilities were promoted by a corporation of 41 Indianapolis businessmen who viewed it as a prize for the Circle City as well as for Butler. When Butler signed a lease with the Indiana High School Athletic Association allowing the high school state tournament to be played there, the corporation agreed to finance the building at a a cost of $1,000,000.

The court was reconfigured in 1933 from running east to west to run from north to south, as over half of the seats were at the ends of the court, when event viewing is typically better from the sides. Butler hosted the tourney from 1928 to 1971, except for 1943-1945, when the building housed the US Army Air Forces and US Navy as a barracks during World War II.

It was as host to annual high school basketball championship game that the fieldhouse was home to the "Milan Miracle", the memorable 1954 victory of tiny Milan High School team over the much larger Muncie Central. The film "Hoosiers", loosely based on that event, used Hinkle Fieldhouse and the memorable voice of original announcer Hilliard Gates in filming the climactic game of the popular movie.

A major $1.5 million facelift in 1989 reduced the seating capacity from 15,000 to 11,043, as well as renovating the main reception area, basketball offices, film rooms and team locker rooms. Hinkle Fieldhouse hosted the entire 1994 Horizon League men's basketball conference tournament as well as parts of the 2004 and 2008 Horizon League tournaments.

The fieldhouse was originally called Butler Fieldhouse, and was renamed in 1966 to honor Paul D. "Tony" Hinkle (1899 - 1992), who was basketball coach at Butler for 41 seasons ending in 1970. In 1983, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2006, to celebrate Butler University's 150th Anniversary, a documentary about Hinkle Fieldhouse was aired on ESPN entitled "Indiana's Basketball Cathedral".

Events

The Fieldhouse has served as host to U.S. presidents (Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton), Evangelist Billy Graham, Ice Shows, professional basketball teams, Olympic basketball trials, the first USSR-USA basketball game, all-star basketball games for the NBA, ABA and the East-West College All-Stars, national indoor track events, tennis matches of both Bill Tilden and Jack Kramer, national equestrian events, the Roller Derby, a six-day bicycle race, a three ring circus, as well as the volleyball matches during the 1987 Pan American Games. At 15,000 the volleyball match was the highest attended volleyball match ever held in the United States.

References

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/indianapolis/index.htm Indianapolis, a National Park Service "Discover Our Shared Heritage" Travel Itinerary]