ABSTRACT
When the history is written of the efforts of declining central cities that aggressively focused on sports, tourism, culture, or entertainment to revitalize downtown areas, special attention will be accorded to Indianapolis. Beginning in the 1970s and then sustained by the administrations of four different mayors (three Republicans and one Democrat) across four decades, Indianapolis’ leadership rebuilt a moribund downtown center and kept it vital and expanding with a second wave of capital projects to replace facilities built to initiate the rebuilding process. Few, if any, communities that used sports, culture, entertainment, or tourism for revitalization have been as focused as Indianapolis. No other region has initiated the building of a second wave of facilities to replace the original cornerstones of the policy as the older assets became economically obsolete. There are numerous lessons and guidance to be learned from Indianapolis’ plan and its sustained effort to turn subsidies into investments.
