On your next visit to the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center, you’ll notice a new sign and a new name atop the historic Coliseum. It’s now known as the Corteva Coliseum.
“This building has a soul to it. I mean, it has this incredible way of making memories for people,” says Cindy Hoye, Executive Director of the Indiana State Fair Commission.
She tells Hoosier Ag Today that the partnership between Indianapolis-based Corteva and the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center ensures that the iconic venue remains a cornerstone of the state’s celebration of agriculture.
“Two stellar institutions—Corteva and the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center—have come together to partner and showcase innovation and growth,” says Hoye. “One of the things that Corteva talks a lot about is community, so what a better place for the story of agriculture to be told than here at the fairgrounds in the Corteva Coliseum!”
Audrey Grimm, who serves as Chief People Officer with Corteva, says the Corteva Coliseum reflects her company’s commitment to Indiana’s agriculture community.
“It was a natural partnership for us to come together and to reduce celebrate agriculture today but also play a role into the future of agriculture,” says Grimm.
Since opening in July 1939, the venue has hosted the Beatles, Elvis Presley, President John F. Kennedy, and the Indiana Pacers throughout their ABA Championship era from 1969-74. In fact, the Pacers are said to have been named as a homage to the horse races that would take place across from the Coliseum at the Grandstands.
Today, the 86-year-old venue not only continues to host the Indiana State Fair’s champion livestock shows, but also the IU Indy Jaguars mens’ basketball team, the annual Mecum auto auction, as well as dozens of concerts and special events held every year.
Hoye says the Corteva Coliseum holds a special place in the hearts of countless Hoosiers.
“The Corteva Coliseum really is an anchor to this Fairgrounds and this 250-acre campus—but it’s also an anchor institution in the community too. It’s memory making, especially for families,” says Hoye.
Growing up in Indianapolis and graduating from nearby North Central High School, Hoye shared with Hoosier Ag Today that the Corteva Coliseum also has provided many outstanding memories for her and her family. She says her first concert was Leon Russell performing at the Coliseum on June 11, 1974.
“Believe it or not, we used to host championship tennis in this building, and I was also a ball girl one year,” says Hoye. “I’ve skated in the building. My son has, my grandson has—it has all sorts of little exclamation points for myself in how many memories that our family has made in this building in particular.”
The 168th Indiana State Fair starts Friday, August 1 and runs through Sunday, August 17. The Indiana State Fair will be closed Mondays throughout the Fair.
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