Lucas Oil Stadium is officially open for the 2008 Colts season.
August 16, 2008
Local leaders and dignitaries gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium this morning to pat each other on the back and officially open the $720 million project to the public.
Several hundred blue-clad fans gathered around a stage at the stadium’s north end for the formal ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Opening this magnificent stadium is one of the most important days we’re going to experience in Indianapolis for several years to come, at least until the Super Bowl comes here in 2012,” Mayor Greg Ballard proclaimed. “It is a terrific day.”
Ballard noted the positive economic impact the stadium will have on the city.
“Indianapolis has worked too hard to attract and hold on to certain conventions and special events. Some of those meetings were starting to outgrow us and those organizations were turning to other communities that were building new venues,” he said. “With today’s grand opening, we’re more than back in the game. We’ve moved back to the forefront.”
Former Mayor Bart Peterson said the stadium was “worth every penny” because the Indianapolis Colts bring the community together.
“There are a lot of tangible benefits to building this stadium, but the real reason is far more significant than any dollars and cents analysis. It is because the Indianapolis Colts bring us together as a city and a state,” Peterson said.
“There is nothing that warms my heart more than to see an old man with a Colts cap, walking next to his daughter in a Peyton Manning jersey with a little baby in a stroller with a Colts bib on. All generations, all races, all political backgrounds – we all come together for professional sports.”
Colts owner Jim Irsay stressed a similar theme.
“This is about a place where we gather. It’s about community. It’s everyone’s stadium. This is the people’s stadium,” Irsay said. “As time passes, we’ll gather here for a lot of joyful events. They’ll be some disappoints, and they’ll be some sorrows. But it’s about the community, gathering and bringing us all closer.”
NCAA President Myles Brand touted Lucas Oils as a terrific venue for Final Four basketball games.
“Indianapolis is already America’s leading sports city, and this gold medal stadium confirms that,” Brand said. “Indy and Indiana can be very proud of everything that has been done to make this possible.”
Gov. Mitch Daniels said he was most impressed by the work of those who built the stadium.
“I want to say thanks, most of all, to the workers who made this marvel possible. I don’t know how that happens,” Daniels said. “I struggle to build a birdhouse that any bird would dare to inhabit.”
Forrest Lucas, the man who paid $121.5 million for the stadium’s naming rights, said he was anxious for an estimated 100,000 fans to get the chance to tour the stadium.
“You probably look at this place and say, ‘It’s magnificent,’” Lucas said. “But you don’t know how magnificent it is until you get inside.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
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