Indy Eleven stadium bill dies in legislature

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Apr 29, 2015

First, plans for a new $82 million soccer stadium for the NASL's Indy Eleven passed the Indiana House of Representatives. Then, Senate plans to renovate its current home, IUPUI's Carroll Stadium, to the tune of $20 million were approved. But when it came time for conferees to reconcile the bills, the General Assembly closed without an agreement.

The sponsor of the bill to renovate Carroll Stadium said there was not the time to get the details worked out.

"We just couldn't get all the parties on the same page," Rep. Todd Huston told the Indianapolis Star. "Everybody was acting in good faith, willing to get something done. But it wasn't going to work out this session. We were defining contributions and getting the right language with the state, IU, the team, the city. There were too many details from a financial standpoint for each of the parties. Honestly, we just ran out of time to nail everything down."

House Bill 1273 passed the Indiana House by a vote of 74-21. The Senate version passed by a vote of 46-3. The amended bill extended a sports and entertainment development area to include a future stadium site and a new downtown Indianapolis hotel to be developed by Indy Eleven owner  Ersal Ozdemir. The bond on the project would have be repaid with a portion of ticket sales at Carroll Stadium, and a hotel tax on revenues at the new hotel.

According to Indy Eleven, a conference committee report was recommended increasing the State’s investment to $25 million, but conferees from the Senate and House were unable to come to terms before the end of the 2015 session.

"While we are disappointed in the final outcome from the Indiana General Assembly, we are encouraged by the widespread support that was gained in both houses,” Peter Wilt, president and general manager of Indy Eleven, said in a statement. “Nevertheless, we will endeavor to return and build upon the support generated at the Statehouse and that of our loyal fan base. We look forward to continuing Indy Eleven’s successful second season with our partners at Indiana University on the campus of IUPUI.”