opinion

Smith: Why not put Indy Eleven's stadium in Lafayette Square?

It's a moment of truth for Indy Eleven.

This week, the Indiana House is expected to vote on whether to authorize bonds for a massive, new $82 million stadium somewhere in Indianapolis. With 18,500 seats and real grass, it would be a huge step up from the soccer team's current home at Carroll Stadium.

Even with the feasibility study released last week, I'm still skeptical about whether the team needs a stadium now, after only one season and with a plan that could potentially put taxpayers at risk. The promise of additional sports teams using the stadium helps, but the idea of using it for concerts, given the glut of venues, seems fishy.

That said, I have little doubt that the Eleven, and the diversity and growing group of fans who love the Boys in Blue, will get their stadium eventually. And that's a good thing.

So, in the end, the only real question is where this stadium should go once we get around to building it.

The Indy Eleven folks say they want it Downtown. It's centrally located. It's near Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Victory Field. It has plenty of nearby hotels and restaurants. It's pretty. It's shiny. It's exciting.

I say, why not the International Marketplace? Yes, that neighborhood formerly known as Lafayette Square.

It is home to thousands of immigrants, arguably the biggest and most loyal fans of soccer. It has dozens of ethnic restaurants and businesses. It just got nearly $2.7 million in grants and city funding for a string of improvements. It's easily accessible from I-65 and I-465 and is only minutes from Downtown. There's lots of room for parking (because there's lots of unused concrete). It's kind of crusty. It's haphazard. It's chaotic.

Sound crazy? It shouldn't.

After all, one of Indy Eleven's biggest arguments why the demand for soccer, long considered a niche sport in the United States, will continue to grow is that the team appeals to the "new America." Immigrants and worldly millennials who would loyally flock to a new stadium for years to come.

Dave Guthrie, executive director of Indiana Soccer, said as much to the House Ways and Means Committee last week.

"The people who fill the stadiums in professional soccer, that is the new America," he said. "These are not NFL converts. They are not NBA converts. These are the new Americans who have a passion for this game."

He's absolutely right.

These also are the same people who have brought new life to Lafayette Square in recent years. Immigrants have slowly turned the struggling commercial corridor into the semblance of a neighborhood, opening businesses and restaurants and building close-knit communities. And on any given weekend, it's adventurous millennials who are there shopping at those businesses and eating at those restaurants.

"This is who we're becoming," is the way Mary Clark, executive director of the International Marketplace Coalition, puts it.

Add to that a decision by Indianapolis officials to invest millions of dollars in the neighborhood over the next three years, and its clear the International Marketplace is on the upswing.

Imagine what a stadium would do for that long-struggling area of Indianapolis. The kind of catalyst it could be for additional commercial and residential development.

Imagine what it would do for the restaurants if they were able to sell their food there.

Imagine how, as a region, we could gain a new appreciation for the diversity that is already here.

Sadly, Indy Eleven is focused on Downtown. The International Marketplace isn't on the team's radar because there aren't enough hotels on that side of town and because the neighborhood isn't walkable.

But that could change.

If state lawmakers decide to make the team wait another year, there might be a way to build the infrastructure for a stadium. The hotels, the ramped-up restaurants and the plans for a greener, more walkable and bikeable neighborhood are in the works.

Change is happening in Lafayette Square. The same kind of change that turned it into the International Marketplace in the first place and made way for the success of Indy Eleven. It would be a shame not to capitalize on that in a big way.

Contact Star columnist Erika D. Smith at (317) 444-6424, erika.smith@indystar.com or on Twitter at @erika_d_smith.