Hinkle Fieldhouse

Historic indoor arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, U. S.

Hinkle Fieldhouse (named Butler Fieldhouse from 1928 until 1966) 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 (with the exception of 1943 to 1945, when it was converted to a military barracks during World War II) 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 (1986), and the final scenes of the film's championship game were filmed at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Hinkle Fieldhouse (originally named Butler 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 (a 36,000 seat football stadium that has since been downsized and renamed the Bud and Jackie Sellick 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. 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. 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. Brad Stevens, the former Butler basketball coach who became head coach of Boston Celtics, once remarked that Hinkle Fieldhouse is "not for everybody," but continued, "But it is for somebody that appreciates tradition, somebody that appreciates history." The 2015–2016 basketball season was the first full season in the upgraded facility.

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 (south wall) 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.

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.

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.

Hinkle Fieldhouse has hosted annual championship games of Indiana's high school basketball tournament, numerous collegiate games and tournaments, U. S. Olympic team exhibition games, and professional basketball games, as well as other special events. During World War II, the fieldhouse was temporarily converted to a military barracks. Hinkle Fieldhouse hosted the entire 1994 Horizon League men's basketball conference tournament as well as parts of the 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2010 Horizon League tournaments. Butler's men's basketball team won the Horizon League conference title at Hinkle in 2010. In Butler Fieldhouse's first sellout crowd for the state tournament's championship game In March 1930, the Washington Hatchets defeated Muncie Central. At that time, Butler's basketball arena was "considered one of the premier places in the country to hold games." In 1950, Butler Fieldhouse was the site of the first televised broadcast of a state championship game.

Hinkle Fieldhouse has been host to other basketball related events such as professional basketball teams, U. S. Olympic team exhibition games, and the first USSR USA basketball game, as well as all star basketball games for the NBA, ABA and the East West College All Stars. Several notable games took place at Butler Fieldhouse in the 1940s and 1950s. The 1940 NCAA basketball tournament East Regionals were held there, and won by the eventual national men's champion, the Indiana Hoosiers. Until 1978, those games were the only NCAA tournament games held in Indianapolis. In 1948 the annual Hoosier Classic basketball tournament with Indiana University, Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, and Butler played its inaugural games at Butler Fieldhouse during the winter holidays. An estimated 75,000 fans watched these games in the first three years of the tournament. In 1956, a few weeks before the U. S. Olympic team won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, Bill Russell and other U. S. Olympic team members played an exhibition game at Butler Fieldhouse against the Phillips 66ers, the national Amateur Athletic Union championship team. In September 2019, the WNBA's Indiana Fever announced that they would use Hinkle Fieldhouse for all home games in 2020 and 2021, as well as part of the 2022 season. The move was made to accommodate a major renovation of Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The vast majority of work is scheduled to take place during the NBA offseason, which includes the entire WNBA season, though the COVID 19 pandemic moved the Fever to a league wide bubble environment at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

In addition to basketball games, Hinkle Fieldhouse has been used for other athletic events such as professional tennis matches, six day bicycle races, national equestrian events, and the Butler Relays (a national indoor track event in the 1930s and 1940s), among others. Hinkle Fieldhouse hosted the Men's and women's volleyball tournament during the 1987 Pan American Games, attracting 15,000 spectators. At that time, it was the highest attended volleyball match ever held in the United States. In addition, Hinkle Fieldhouse has served as an "unofficial convention center" for politicians and religious leaders such as Wendell Willkie, Thomas E. Dewey, and Jesse Jackson; Evangelist Billy Graham; and host to U. S. presidents