Hinkle Fieldhouse
Hinkle Fieldhouse is a basketball arena on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Completed in early 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States until 1950. The facility was renamed Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1966 in honor of Butler's longtime coach and athletic director, Paul D. "Tony" Hinkle. It is the sixth-oldest college basketball arena still in use. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1987, Hinkle Fieldhouse is sometimes referred to as "Indiana's Basketball Cathedral."
Hinkle Fieldhouse has served as the home court for the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team since 1928 and as the site of the annual Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament's championship games from 1928 to 1971. In addition to amateur and professional basketball games, it has hosted visits from U.S. presidents, indoor track events and bicycle races, professional tennis matches, circuses, and other civic and religious gatherings.
The Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team won the Horizon League conference title at Hinkle in 2010. Several memorable high school basketball championship games were played at the Butler arena, including the 1954 title game, when tiny Milan High School's basketball team defeated a larger Muncie Central High School team. Milan's team served as the inspiration for the movie Hoosiers, and the final scenes of the film's championship game were filmed at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
History
Hinkle Fieldhouse was among the first buildings erected when Butler University moved to the Fairview campus in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1928. Butler Fieldhouse and the Butler Bowl were promoted by a corporation of 41 Indianapolis businessmen who viewed them as a benefit to the city as well as Butler. When Butler signed a lease with the Indiana High School Athletic Association to host the championship games of the state's high school basketball tournament, the corporation agreed to finance the construction project at a cost of $1 million.Designed by Indianapolis architect Fermor Spencer Cannon, construction began on the basketball arena at 49th Street and Boulevard Place on the northeast edge of Butler's campus in fall of 1927. When completed in early 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States, a distinction it retained until 1950, and is the sixth-oldest college basketball arena still in use. Called Butler Fieldhouse from 1928 to 1966, it was renamed Hinkle Fieldhouse in honor of Butler's longtime coach and athletic director, Paul D. "Tony" Hinkle. The arena's design included a steel truss system that provides spectators with unobstructed views of the basketball court, an initial seating capacity of more than 15,000, and a fireproof brick and stone exterior. The innovative technology for its time served as the inspiration for other basketball arenas. Hinkle Fieldhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1983, and designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987, and has been in use for nine decades.
Although Hinkle Fieldhouse has hosted other events, it is best known as a basketball venue in a state that is well known for its enthusiasm for the game. In addition to serving as the home court for the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team, Butler hosted the Indiana high school tournament's championship games from 1928 to 1971 (except for 1943 to 1945, when the arena was converted to a military barracks to house U.S. Army Air Forces and U.S. Navy recruits during World War II. The state high school championship games returned to the Butler Fieldhouse in 1946 and remained there until 1972, when the Indiana High School Athletic Association moved the state basketball tournament's championship games to Indiana University's Assembly Hall in Bloomington, and later to other venues in the state.
In November 1965, Butler University's board of trustees voted in favor of renaming the basketball facility Hinkle Fieldhouse to honor Paul D. "Tony" Hinkle, a former three-sport coach and athletic director at Butler. Hinkle, who came to Butler as an assistant basketball coach in 1921, was named its head basketball coach in 1926. Hinkle served as head coach of the Butler men's basketball, baseball, and football teams from 1934 to 1970. He was also Butler's athletic director.
On December 22, 1983, Hinkle Fieldhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987, in recognition of its role in transforming college basketball into a popular spectator sport in the 1920s and 1930s. Hinkle Fieldhouse is one of only a few early 20th-century sports arenas still in use in the United States, and among the best-preserved of its kind. Brad Stevens, the former Butler basketball coach who became the head coach of the Boston Celtics, once remarked that Hinkle Fieldhouse is "not for everybody. But it is for somebody that appreciates tradition, somebody that appreciates history." In 2006, to celebrate Butler University's 150th anniversary, a documentary about Hinkle Fieldhouse entitled Indiana's Basketball Cathedral aired on ESPN. More recently, a $36.2 million renovation and restoration project was completed in 2014. The 2015–2016 basketball season was the first full season in the upgraded facility.
Building description
The exterior of the historic arena has the appearance of "a red-brick airplane hangar" and has been called "Indiana's Basketball Cathedral." Designed by Indianapolis architect Fermor Spencer Cannon, a founding member of the Indiana Society of Architects, the six-story brick arena on more than had an original seating capacity of 15,000. The expansive, cathedral-like facilities were the result of an arched-steel truss system that supported the roof and provided unobstructed views of the basketball court. Butler's fieldhouse was also among the earliest of its kind to use ramps for access to upper-deck seats. Because of its innovative construction, Hinkle Fieldhouse has served as a prototype for other indoor athletic facilities, including the design of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home to the city's NBA and WNBA teams, respectively the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever.Exterior and plan
The rectangular plan for the arena lies on an east–west axis with round-arch gable ends. Its steel truss system supports a three-stage monitor roof and red-brick walls resting on a poured concrete foundation. The three-story main facade is constructed of brick on a concrete foundation. A stone belt course surrounds the structure between the first and second stories. Decorative buttresses vertically divide the main facade into twenty-two bays. There are eight entry gates on the south wall with tall, round-arch windows above the entry doors. The north wall is similar to main facade, but it does not have entry gates. The east facade has a round-arch gable about six stories tall, as well as nine bays divided by buttresses. The west facade is identical to east wall above third floor; however, a two-story brick wing is attached to the west wall at its lower levels. The arena's exterior still retain its original features, but the steel-framed windows and metal doors have been either repaired or replaced in subsequent renovations.Interior
The main interior feature of the arena is an NCAA regulation-sized basketball court at the center. The removable hardwood basketball court, which originally ran east–west, was changed in 1933 to a north–south orientation to provide additional arena seating and to avoid the glare of late afternoon sun on the court.Three tiers of seating, which originally contained wooden plank bleachers, surround the basketball court on all sides. The interior also has poured concrete floors and ramps, which lead to the two upper tiers of stands, and an open concourse surrounding the stands. In addition, the interior framework has exposed steel girders and corrugated metal roof sheathing. Interior walls are brown glazed brick. Ticket offices are located at the entryway. Concrete block offices and classrooms initially built under the main floor stands were removed during renovations in 2014. Natural light streams in from the monitor roof and gable-end windows. The facility also has electric lighting.
Wing
The fieldhouse's two-story brick wing has a flat roof and is attached to the arena's west wall at the lower levels. The wing's main floor originally contained a swimming pool and a small gymnasium; lockers and mechanical rooms were in the area below ground. The wing had fallen into disuse and was completely remodeled as part of major renovations completed in 2014.Renovations
The basketball arena has been renovated and remodeled several times over its 90-year history. In 1933, for example, the interior was reconfigured, to change the court from an east–west to a north–south orientation. In the initial arrangement, more than half of the seats were at the ends of the court, while event viewing is typically better from the sides. A major $1.5 million facelift in 1989 reduced the original seating capacity of 15,000 to 11,043. The main reception area, basketball offices, film rooms, and team locker rooms were also renovated. In 1992, other athletic and physical education offices, sports locker rooms, and fitness facilities at the fieldhouse were renovated as well.Butler University began planning in 2009 for another major renovation to the exterior and interior of the facility. The $36.2 million renovation and restoration project was completed in 2014. RATIO Architects worked with university officials to maintain appearance of the historic exterior, improve the interior's accessibility, and renovate the building's wing. To assist with renovation costs, the university was the recipient of a $750,000 federal Save America's Treasures grant. In 2015, Indiana Landmarks awarded Butler its Cook Cup for Outstanding Renovation.
Because of the building's National Historic Landmark status, exterior changes to the fieldhouse are minimal. Renovations made in 2014 included the replacement of steel-sash windows and 9,700 windowpanes, in addition to tuckpointing 282,000 exterior bricks. Interior renovations made in 2014 included removal of offices and storage space under the bleachers to open up the main concourses, adding decorative murals and new scoreboards, upgrading seating to improve accessibility and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and additional mechanical upgrades such as air conditioning. The appearance of the basketball court, barrel-vaulted ceiling, and the exposed-steel roof trusses are mostly unchanged.
As part of the 2014 renovations, the arena's seating capacity was reduced from 10,000 to 9,100. The gym, which was originally filled with bleachers, was altered to include about 4,500 chair-back seats and handrails along the aisles; however, some bleachers remain for student seating. In addition, a large video board was installed above midcourt and smaller scoreboards occupy each of the four corners. "The scoreboards on the side are new, but it still has a historic feel," remarked Butler senior guard Alex Barlow in an interview in 2014. "It still has a lot of modern upgrades that fans like to see. If you see the locker room and the weight room and the training room, it's come a long way since I've gotten here."
New spaces were created during the renovation to the attached wing at the west end of Hinkle Fieldhouse by adding two floors to a former swimming pool area closed in 2002 due to the high maintenance costs. The result was a three-level facility that includes a training facilities, locker rooms, and an academic center with study spaces in an area the athletic department had been using for storage. In addition, an elevator was installed to reach upper decks of the fieldhouse. Butler's athletic administrative offices and coaches' offices are on the top level. The training facility on the second floor is reportedly six times larger than the previous training area. The men's and women's basketball offices are adjacent to their respective locker rooms on the lower level near the court have been upgraded. The men's basketball locker room has been expanded and, for the first time, has a separate video room. Gordon Hayward, a former Butler star who went on to become a professional player with the Utah Jazz in 2010 and Boston Celtics player in 2017, donated the funds for the locker-room renovation.