Indianapolis and the Story of the Super Bowl

In this mornings Courier-Journal an article ran by USAToday columnist Mike Lopresti describing the ascent of Indianapolis in the 1970's and 80's from a quiet mid-western town that was "evaporating," as a former mayor put it, into one of the region's leading hubs of commerce, and the host site for the 2012 Super Bowl.  Essentially the story goes that the powers that be in Indy realized that their downtown landscape was going to shambles and they needed something to rejuvenate their scene.  Enter the Indianapolis Colts, the RCA Dome, (eventually) Conseco Field House, and (now) Lucas Oil Stadium.  What they did was basically drive interest through the use of sports.  People began to flock back to downtown Indy like the Salmon of Capistrano (to use the parlance of our time) in order to attend these games, go to these events, and be integrated in the city's new sports scene.  And you know what - IT WORKED.

This is a classic argument of what comes first, the chicken or the egg, but it's a great case study for Louisville.  When the Yum! Center was completed last year at the corner of 2nd and Main Streets critics howled about the lack of interest in Downtown Louisville, and the thought that an arena on the waterfront would be unsustainable, and a waste of resources.  And while there definitely questions still to be answered about the former, I think we can all agree that the latter is proving to be false.  Without question the addition of the KFC Yum! Center to our downtown landscape has increased interest in our city's main business corridor to levels I have never seen in my lifetime.  Previously the thought was that it was too expensive, too much of a hassle, and too big of a headache to do anything other than work downtown.  Now the commentary is on how we get MORE things downtown.  People are going to games, going to dinner, attending plays and shows, and experiencing all Louisville has to offer at a record pace.  In a few short weeks Louisville will be host to a portion of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament's first two rounds, and has the potential to do even more with that event.  Concerts are being headlined in the facility nearly every week, and residents are beginning to see what an asset the building is becoming to our city's landscape.  It might only be one step, but it's a big one in the right direction to Louisville gaining national prominence once again.  Just as Indianapolis discovered forty years ago and are reminded of today, if you build it they will come - it's time for Louisville to continue to capitalize on it's own Field (arena) of Dreams.