Market Square Arena - History

History

In the late 1960s, the city of Indianapolis studied several market areas of the city for future development and revitalization. Students from the fourth-year design studio class at Ball State University School of Architecture met with the city of Indianapolis to review and select 20-26 projects for consideration. Students Joseph Mynheir and Terry Pastorino selected downtown Indianapolis as their market and designed what would eventually become Market Square Arena. The design envisioned by Mynheir and Pastorino was later selected and used as a promotional tool by the City of Indianapolis for construction of the stadium. Four architectural firms were selected by the city to complete the arena design with two representatives from each of the four companies. Terry Pastorino, who had worked for Kennedy, Brown & Trueblood, Inc., during the summer of 1970 on the project, later joined the firm working on the arena.

The original student design included a four-story office building covering two city blocks. The Market Square Arena as constructed consisted of a unique space frame design spanning Market Street. The playing floor was elevated over Market Street by parking garages on either side of Market Street. Market Street terminated at Market Square Arena to the east and to the west by the capitol building. The final design eventually took up one city block spanning Market Street.

In 1987, Indianapolis hosted the Pan American Games and the basketball event was held at Market Square.

Market Square Arena was best known as the home of the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association from 1974–1999. The first Pacers basketball game ever held in the arena was a preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks; attendance was 16,929. The first regular-season ABA game in the arena was held on October 18, 1974, against the San Antonio Spurs; the Pacers lost in double overtime, 129–121 in front of 7,473 fans. The first Pacers victory in Market Square Arena came on October 23 with a 122-107 win over the Spirits of St. Louis. The 1974–75 season ended for the Pacers with the ABA Finals played in Market Square Arena and Freedom Hall against their archrivals, the Kentucky Colonels. The Colonels defeated the Pacers in that championship series, winning the ABA title in five games (4 wins to 1). The 1975–76 Pacers won their final home ABA game in Market Square Arena with a 109–95 victory against the Colonels. (Kentucky won the next game by one point to win the series and advance, ending the Pacers' ABA tenure.) The Pacers continued to play in Market Square Arena after they joined the NBA. Michael Jordan's return to the Chicago Bulls after his first retirement took place at Market Square Arena in a loss to the Pacers on March 19, 1995. The final Pacers game to be played in Market Square Arena was a pre-season exhibition game against the Utah Jazz on October 23, 1999.

The arena also hosted the 1980 NCAA men's basketball Final Four & the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) men's basketball conference tournament from 1986–88 and again in 1993.

The gold-medal match of the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis pitted Brazil against the United States. The U.S. team of college players featured two All-Americans in David Robinson and Danny Manning, two Final Four MVPs in Pervis Ellison and Keith Smart, and several other future NBA players. The U.S. team led 68-54 at halftime, but Oscar Schmidt led Brazil to a stunning comeback, finishing with 46 points as Brazil won 120–115.

Market Square Arena was also the home of the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA from 1974–1979. 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky starred for the Racers in his first professional action before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers after a handful of games.