Hoosier Dome?..

[Scott Vibert]

Stumbled across this on social media, but apparently the Hoosier Dome was a proposed home for an Indianapolis based expansion team in the mid-80s when it was newly built:



Haven't seen anyone take this on, although eriqjaffe did a take on a Domed stadium in Indianapolis for his USBL series. Apparently one of the bigger stumbling blocks was that the balconies, cut the effective distance in RF to only 295 feet:

INDIANAPOLIS -- A balcony extending 30 feet over a proposed playing field makes the Hoosier Dome unfit for major league baseball, according to a National League official.

Blake Cullen, public relations director for the NL, said Thursday he researched the problem and the balcony does not allow for a minimum 320 feet dimension required by baseball rules, the Indianapolis Star reported.

The balcony cuts the effective distance to 295 feet, officials said.

Cullen's statement, based on conversations with other NL officials, disputes a study by the Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc. architectural firm that drew up preliminary plans for converting the domed stadium in downtown Indianapolis for baseball.

The stadium was only intended for football and now is the home for the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL.

The Hellmuth company plans would remove part of the sideline seats now intended for football and replace them with movable bleachers that can be stored for baseball.

Ronald J. Labinski of Hellmuth told the Star Wednesday the overhang would not bother baseball because 'we calculated that anything that would land in the upper deck would have cleared the fence anyway. For it not to clear the fence and come straight down, it would have to have hit the (193-foot high) roof and that cannot be done.'

Indianapolis Mayor William H. Hudnut has suggested the domed stadium as a site for a major league team.

One group, the Indianapolis Arrows Inc., currently is trying to obtain an expansion baseball franchise.

Apparently they did play an old timers game, at the dome, but rather than moving the seats as proposed for a ML tenant they just used a very, very short RF fence.

[bctrackboi11]

Ha, you saw that post too. I'm looking for info on it and I may tackle it if I can find more reference pics.

[Sweed]

That sure looks a lot like the Metrodome in Minnesota. A quick google shows the RF "Baggie" in Minnesota was 16 ft high. Metrodome field dimensions were: 343L, 385LC, 408C, 367RC, 327R. Pretty comparable with some give and take, here and there. Most notably the 325 LF line at Indy.

Interesting how they showed/believed the 30 ft overhang wouldn't affect baseball.