INDIANAPOLIS — It may not seem like it to longtime fans, but the Indiana Pacers have played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as long as they have played at Market Square Arena.
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Market Square Arena during the Indiana Pacers’ final game on October 22, 1999.
The Pacers played at Market Square Arena from 1974 until a preseason game against the Utah Jazz on October 22, 1999. The team opened the regular season at the then Conseco Fieldhouse two weeks after the final game. That means the Pacers have called each arena home for 25 years.
When Pacers fan Dan Murphy found out, he said, “Well, I’m getting older, too.” “MSA was crazy. It was like a big high school gym.”
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Market Square Arena during the 1995 NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic.
Market Square Arena remained vacant until it was blown up on July 8, 2001. The arena site at Market Street and Alabama Street has been replaced by a high-rise residential tower with a Whole Foods grocery store and Cummins’ Indianapolis headquarters.
“It was disappointing, but we knew economic development was coming,” Murphy said. “The old goes out and the new comes in.”
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Market Square Arena was bombed on July 8, 2001.
Although the arena is gone, the Pacers’ old court is still in use at the National Institute for Fitness and Sports near IU Indianapolis and bears the Market Square Arena wordmark.
“So many incredible moments have happened on this floor and some great players have played here,” said Melanie Roberts, director of the National Institute of Fitness and Sport. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make it available to the public here.”
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Market Square Arena Floor at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports.
Murphy often plays basketball on the floor of the old Market Square Arena.
“I tell the young kids that come here, ‘This is the Pacers court,'” Murphy said. “This court brings back a lot of memories. It reminds me of the playoffs against the Knicks and the atmosphere.”
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Market Square Arena shirts are on sale at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The only memento at the Market Square Arena site is a plaque dedicated to Elvis Presley, who performed his last concert at the arena on June 26, 1977.
