Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Indianapolis Skywalk
The Indianapolis Skywalk is a set of enclosed pedestrian bridges and connectors linking the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, a dozen downtown hotels and the former Circle Centre Mall, with the Artsgarden over Washington and Illinois streets as a central node. No single body owns or runs it. Hotel developers, the Capital Improvement Board, the Indy Arts Council and the owner of the former mall each control their own links, and the city reviews new bridges case by case when air rights over streets are vacated.
Governance
Who owns it, who runs it, what the rules are.
- Owner
- Each link belongs to the party that built it. The Indy Arts Council owns the Artsgarden and its walkways. The Capital Improvement Board owns or operates the convention center, Lucas Oil Stadium and the Signia hotel and their connectors. Hotel owners hold the hotel bridges, and Hendricks owns the former Circle Centre buildings, while the City owns adjoining parking garages and most of the former L.S. Ayres building.
- Operator
- There is no system-wide operator. The Capital Improvement Board runs the convention center and stadium links, the Indy Arts Council runs the Artsgarden, and hotel and building owners run their own corridors and bridges.
- Hours
- No system-wide hours rule was found, and each owner sets access to its own link. The Indy Arts Council lists business hours of Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the Artsgarden. Convention center and hotel links follow facility and event schedules.[02]
- Public right
- No public right of passage in an ordinance or easement was found. Access is by permission of each owner and can be withdrawn, as when Hendricks closed and removed links during the Circle Centre redevelopment in 2025.
- Who pays
- Each owner pays for its own link. Hotel bridges were built with costs shared between hotel developers and the state. The Capital Improvement Board funds convention center and stadium connectors through its bond-financed projects. The Lilly Endowment paid for the Artsgarden, which the Indy Arts Council maintains, and federal transportation funds were sought for the stadium walkway.
Legal instruments
- Air-rights / right-of-way vacation, City of Indianapolis planning review ↗New bridges over streets need air rights to be vacated. City planners review each one case by case, and there are no specific city design requirements for skywalks.[01]
- Circle Centre public-private partnership (1995) and Hendricks redevelopment agreement (2023) ↗The city co-financed the mall that served as the network's hub. Its 2023 incentive package for Hendricks includes a loan, tax credits and possible tax-increment financing. Reconfiguring the Artsgarden connections is part of that redevelopment.[05]
Governing bodies
Open issues
- Circle Centre, the network's central hub, closed at the end of 2025 for the Traction Yards redevelopment, and the skywalk to the Omni Severin hotel is being permanently removed.
- The redevelopment plan detaches the Artsgarden from the mall, keeping connections at three corners and adding a grand staircase at the fourth, so routes through the Artsgarden will change.
- The new Signia hotel and convention center expansion add a skywalk over Capitol Avenue, extending the convention-oriented part of the network as the retail hub is reworked.
Timeline
- Circle Centre Mall opens on September 8 as a public-private partnership between the City of Indianapolis and local investors led by Simon. The $12 million Artsgarden spanning Washington and Illinois streets opens with it.[03]
- The Conrad hotel is connected to the Artsgarden at its northeast corner.[04]
- Plans are set for a walkway of more than $10 million linking the Indiana Convention Center expansion to the new Lucas Oil Stadium, partly at grade along Capitol Avenue and partly underground.[08]
- Two new walkways for the Marriott Place hotel complex, the first new spans in almost a decade, are under way. Hotel developers and the state split their cost.[01]
- The PNC Center and Hyatt Regency complex is connected to the Artsgarden at its southwest corner.[04]
- In December, Hendricks Commercial Properties agrees to buy Circle Centre from Circle Centre Development Co. and plans a $600 million mixed-use redevelopment with city loan and tax-credit support.[05]
- The Capital Improvement Board closes bond sales for the convention center expansion and the Signia by Hilton hotel, to be linked by a skywalk over Capitol Avenue.[07]
- Hendricks completes its acquisition of Circle Centre on April 24.[03]
- On April 1 the mall's south block closes. The skywalk to the Omni Severin hotel closes for permanent removal, and the skywalk over Illinois Street to the World of Wonders garage closes temporarily.[06]
- Circle Centre Mall closes on December 31 ahead of its redevelopment as Traction Yards.[03]
- The convention center expansion and Signia by Hilton, with a new skywalk over Capitol Avenue, are scheduled to open in the second half of the year.[07]
What it cost · who pays
- Artsgarden construction · 1995
- US$12 millionFunded by the Lilly Endowment.[04]
- Circle Centre Mall construction · 1995
- US$307.5 millionIncludes $187 million from the City of Indianapolis, with federal grants, $75 million in partner equity and $45 million in loans. Excludes the Artsgarden.[03]
- Stadium-convention center walkway (estimate) · 2006
- more than US$10 millionCity sought federal transportation funds for a significant portion.[08]
- Hotel skywalk bridge (typical) · 2010
- US$1.5 million to US$1.8 million per walkway$12,000 to $15,000 per square foot, per the developer of Marriott Place.[01]
- Circle Centre redevelopment (Traction Yards) · 2023
- US$600 millionIncludes a $24.4 million no-interest city loan, up to $10 million forgivable, and $42 million in state rehabilitation tax credits.[05]
The story
The Indianapolis skywalk network grew out of the city's push to make downtown a convention destination. Rather than a planned grid of bridges, it is a chain of links that tie the Indiana Convention Center to surrounding hotels, Lucas Oil Stadium and the former Circle Centre Mall. Promoters long described it as connecting more hotel rooms to a convention center than any other US city.
Circle Centre Mall opened in 1995 as a public-private partnership. The City of Indianapolis put about $187 million of the mall's $307.5 million cost into the project, and a group of local companies led by Simon provided equity. Its centerpiece was the Artsgarden, a $12 million glass structure over the intersection of Washington and Illinois streets paid for by the Lilly Endowment. The Indy Arts Council owns and operates the Artsgarden and its walkways, which now connect at four corners to the mall, Claypool Court, the Conrad hotel and the PNC Center and Hyatt Regency complex.
Further links were added as hotels and stadium projects came forward. A walkway of more than $10 million joined the convention center expansion to Lucas Oil Stadium, running partly at grade along Capitol Avenue and partly underground. In 2010 the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that the network linked 12 hotels with more than 4,700 rooms. New spans for the Marriott Place complex were funded jointly by the hotel developers and the state.
Governance is fragmented. No city ordinance or district defines the network, sets common hours or guarantees public passage. City planners review each new bridge case by case when air rights over a street must be vacated. The Capital Improvement Board, a Marion County municipal corporation, controls the convention center, stadium and new Signia hotel links. Hotel owners, the Arts Council and the owner of the former mall each control their own segments.
That fragmentation became visible when Hendricks Commercial Properties bought Circle Centre in 2023 and 2024 to rebuild it as an open-air district called Traction Yards. The south block and the skywalk to the Omni Severin hotel closed in April 2025, with that skywalk to be removed, and the whole mall closed at the end of 2025. The plan detaches the Artsgarden from the mall while keeping three of its corner connections. Meanwhile the Capital Improvement Board is extending the convention side of the network with a skywalk over Capitol Avenue to the Signia by Hilton, scheduled to open in 2026.
Questions people ask
Who owns the Indianapolis skywalks?
How many hotels are connected to the Indiana Convention Center by skywalk?
Is the Circle Centre skywalk still open?
Who owns the Indianapolis Artsgarden?
Is there a law governing Indianapolis skywalks?
Sources
- Hotels spark expansion of downtown skywalk system — Indianapolis Business Journal (2010)
- Indianapolis Artsgarden: Spaces — Indy Arts Council (2026)primary
- Circle Centre Mall — Wikipedia (2026)
- Indianapolis Artsgarden — Wikipedia (2026)
- Hendricks strikes deal to acquire Circle Centre, plans $600M redevelopment — Indianapolis Business Journal (2023)
- Hendricks closing part of Circle Centre Mall ahead of $300M first phase of revamp — Inside Indiana Business (2025)
- CIB, Hilton Formalize Agreement For Management of New Signia By Hilton Indianapolis Convention Hotel, Convention Center Expansion — Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium (Capital Improvement Board) (2023)primary
- Stadium walkway carries $10M tab — Indianapolis Business Journal (2006)
About this record
Confidence medium · reviewed 2026-10-19. No Indianapolis skywalk ordinance, skywalk district or system-wide hours rule was found; a targeted search returned only Des Moines results. A human should check the Indianapolis Revised Code and Department of Metropolitan Development records for air-rights vacation resolutions and any skywalk encroachment licenses. A secondary search summary claimed skywalk hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily with extended convention hours, but its source could not be identified, so it is excluded. The status of routes through the closed Circle Centre since January 2026 is not confirmed. It is unclear whether the hotel-to-convention-center links that bypass the mall stay open and whether the Illinois Street bridge to the World of Wonders garage reopened. Whether Signia and its Capitol Avenue skywalk opened on schedule in fall 2026 is not confirmed. Hotel and room counts are promotional figures from 2010 and 2023. The Artsgarden figure is office or business hours, not necessarily public passage hours. Its Wikipedia cost and funding claims rest on a 1998 Modern Steel Construction article.
Map geometry: 17 corridor features, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), as of 2026-10-20. Levels come from OpenStreetMap tags and can be incomplete.
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© 2026 Open Civic Intelligence Ventures LLC. Quote with attribution and a link; terms.