Retro Indy: Indianapolis heliport was once considered among most profitable in the U.S.

Indianapolis Star

7 days ago

Recent conversations about a major league soccer team for Indianapolis have included speculation about a site for a brand-new soccer stadium. The location city officials have promoted centers around the Downtown Heliport, just south of the intersection of Washington and East Streets, along Pearl Street. Placing an MLS stadium there would force the closure of the present heliport, which first opened more than 40 years ago.
Discussion about a possible heliport in downtown Indianapolis began in the middle 1950s, after helicopters started to be more common around the country in the post Korean War era.
In 1954, a brief in the Indianapolis Star suggested that '[s]uburban residents will be piloting their own helicopters to work within 10 years.' That same year, the Board of Aviation Commissioners proposed constructing a heliport in University Park in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, just north of the Federal Courthouse.
Not everyone was on board with this proposal, with one commentator stating in the Indianapolis News on January 11, 1954, that '[i]t seems too bad that this lone downtown beauty spot — the city's front yard— may have to be eliminated to meet the demands of municipal progress.'
It was not until the late 1960s that a heliport was established at the current Pearl Street site. Initially the heliport consisted of only a bare patch of land, formerly part of a railroad yard, with limited navigation and landing guides, and facilities. It was not open to the public and was restricted to mostly official flights.
In late 1979 the Indianapolis Airport Authority purchased the heliport site to allow a wider range of flight operations. Zoning restrictions to limit development and building height around the heliport were also sought.
The Indianapolis Airport Authority began efforts to obtain federal support and funding for a modern heliport with more established facilities and increased operational capacity.
Such a project was approved in 1983 as part of the National Prototype Demonstration Heliport Program, and construction began on a new heliport in the summer of 1984.
The heliport was dedicated to great fanfare on May 9, 1985, with then Mayor William Hudnut arriving by helicopter (what else?) and presiding over the event. He called the opening 'a vote for progress, a vote for downtown revitalization.'
The interior of the new heliport, described by the Indianapolis Star as 'decorated in shades of mauve, burgundy and gray,' boasted a gift shop carrying a variety of helicopter-related items and a restaurant.
In the middle of the heliport's lobby stood a bronze statue of a Vietnam War era helicopter aviator, dedicated on November 11, 1985. The statue bore no rank nor name for its subject, who was said to look as though he was pondering 'perhaps individual and personal thoughts of a soldier participating in a war he doesn't understand in a place he'd rather not be,' the Star story reported.
The heliport bustled in its early years, and in 1988 a headline in the Star trumpeted that the heliport 'may be the most profitable in the US.' Sightseeing flights were operated out of the heliport in the late 1980s, with locations including the zoo, Crown Hill Cemetery, and the new Major Taylor Velodrome, among others.
In addition to public safety uses, including medical and Indianapolis Police Department flights, the heliport also hosted helicopters for the local news organizations and private businesses, as well as the military on occasion.
However, increased operating costs resulted in local news stations abandoning their helicopters by the late 2010's. The police department also ceased using helicopters, and tenancy at the heliport declined.
In 2020, the Indianapolis Airport Authority submitted a request to the Federal Aviation Administration seeking release from their obligations at the site and asking for permission to sell the heliport for future redevelopment. In 2023, the only tenant was reported to be IU Health, whose Lifeline Helicopters are based at the heliport.