New construction – funded with both public and private monies – continues to enhance the Indianapolis landscape. Future projects in Indy include new downtown hotels and expanded offerings at several area attractions. Additionally, new businesses and attractions continue to boost the quality of life for both residents and visitors.

The Indiana Historical Society is undergoing a substantial interior renovation to create and deliver the Indiana Experience, bringing new set of dynamic, interactive programs to engage visitors. These newly created experiences in the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center will expand both on-site and statewide delivery of their mission to be Indiana’s Storyteller™: Connecting People to the Past. Technology installations and physical modifications will take place this year in preparation for a gala reopening in early 2010.

Adjacent to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and located on 100 acres of untamed woodlands, wetlands, meadows and a 35-acre lake, 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park will be one of the largest museum art parks in the country and the only one to feature the ongoing commission of site-specific artworks. When it opens in spring 2010, 100 Acres will present art projects, exhibitions and discussions designed to strengthen the public’s understanding of the unique, reciprocal relationships between contemporary art and the natural world.

Recently, the Indianapolis Museum of Art unveiled the concepts for eight site specific commissions, which will inaugurate 100 Acres. Eight artists will create temporary, site-specific works that explore and respond to the varied environments of the Park. These eight artists will be the first in a series of ongoing commissions.

The Park site is bordered by the White River and adjacent to the IMA’s current 52-acre campus. Commissions for 100 Acres will be ongoing, with additional artists’ projects to be announced annually. The land, a former gravel pit, has evolved through a natural reclamation into its current state of untamed woodlands and wetlands.

The expansion of the Indiana Convention Center, to be completed in 2010, will be complemented by the opening of a new 1,005-room JW Marriott Hotel. The property will be located adjacent to the Indiana Convention Center and connected via skywalk.

The $425 million JW Marriott Complex in Indianapolis will include the city's largest, full-service convention hotel and a total of 1,623 rooms including: 1,005 rooms in the JW Marriott tower; 294 rooms in the Courtyard by Marriott; 168 rooms in the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott; and 156 rooms in the SpringHill Suites by Marriott. Additionally, the JW Marriott Complex will boast of 105,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including its 40,000-square foot grand ballroom - the largest ballroom in the state of Indiana and the largest hotel ballroom in the Midwest.

The 1,623-room addition will bring the total number of hotel rooms connected by skywalk to the Indiana Convention Center to approximately 4,800 rooms, dramatically contributing to the convention center expansion project already under construction.

The anticipated opening of the Courtyard, Fairfield Inn & Suites and the SpringHill Suites is March, 2010. The grand opening of the JW Marriott property is planned for March 2011.

Due to growing customer demand, Indianapolis has embarked on a major downtown development project that will nearly double the size of the Indiana Convention Center and include a new, multi-use stadium venue. Lucas Oil Stadium, which opened on Aug. 16, 2008, features a retractable roof and is the permanent home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, as well as a venue for NCAA basketball tournaments, conventions and trade shows.

The Indiana Convention Center is also undergoing a dramatic expansion. When completed in its entirety in the fall of 2010, the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium will increase exhibit space to 745,000 square feet and include 250,000 square feet of support space in meeting rooms and ballrooms, giving meeting planners unmatched flexibility in a convenient, connected convention district.

The convention center expansion has not and will not come at the sacrifice of the connectivity of the convention district. All-weather access via skywalks will continue to enable convention and meeting attendees to move among the downtown core of hotels, Circle Centre mall, the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium.

Construction has begun on the 7.5-mile Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick and the first leg, the Alabama Street corridor, of the trail is open for travel. The Indianapolis Cultural Trail is a world-class urban bike and pedestrian path that connects neighborhoods, cultural districts and entertainment amenities, and serves as the hub for the entire greenway trail system. The five downtown cultural districts connected by the Indianapolis Cultural Trail include Fountain Square, Indiana Avenue, Mass Ave, White River State Park and the Wholesale District. Upon completion, it will also connect with the 15-mile Monon Trail, allowing visitors easy access to the sixth cultural district, Broad Ripple Village, from downtown. Construction of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail will be done in six corridor stages and is expected to be complete in its entirety in 2012.