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1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion

1963 disasters in the United States1963 in Indiana20th century in IndianapolisDisasters in IndianaDisasters in sports venues
Explosions in 1963Gas explosions in the United StatesIndiana State FairOctober 1963 events in the United StatesUse American English from December 2021Use mdy dates from December 2021

The Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on October 31, 1963; 81 people died and about 400 others were injured. It was one of the worst disasters in the history of the state. On the night of October 31, over 4,000 people were in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum to watch a Holiday on Ice performance. While this was happening, liquefied petroleum gas was leaking from a tank that was stored with several others in a supply room underneath a part of the grandstands. Shortly after 11 p.m. ET, the gas came into contact with an electrical heating element from the concessions area, causing a major explosion that killed many seated above the room and caused significant damage to the stands. After the initial blast, while people were evacuating, a second blast caused by the remaining, unexploded tanks caused further destruction. Firefighters and other emergency responders were at the site within minutes and survivors were transported via ambulance to various hospitals in the area. The gas tanks were discovered by firefighters during cleanup operations and later testing revealed that they were the cause of the explosion. Following the disaster, a grand jury indicted seven people in total, including employees of the gas provider and the company that operated the arena, as well as the state fire marshal and the city fire chief. However, at later dates all of the individuals either had their charges dropped or their convictions overturned. Victims of the explosion were eventually awarded $4.6 million in settlements. Several city and state agencies investigated the explosion, and it was one of the first events studied by the Disaster Research Center, a research group organized earlier that year to study large-scale disasters. The arena reopened about six weeks after the incident and still stands on the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion
Coliseum Avenue, Indianapolis

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N 39.8275 ° E -86.135 °
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Indiana State Fair Coliseum

Coliseum Avenue
46205 Indianapolis
Indiana, United States
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Central Court Historic District
Central Court Historic District

The Central Court Historic District is a historic district and neighborhood of the city of Indianapolis in northern Center Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. Built around Central Court near the intersection of 36th Street and Central Avenue,: 57  the neighborhood consists of seventy-five buildings over an area of 7.6 acres (3.1 ha).Central Court was platted in 1916 by Oscar A. Jose and Peter J. Balz, local real estate developers who also created such neighborhoods as Meridian Park to the southwest and the neighborhood lining Fall Creek Parkway between Thirty-eighth and Thirtieth Streets. They employed a range of architectural styles for the houses in the neighborhood, including American Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival,: 57  and Prairie School. Many designs were used multiple times in the neighborhood, which has been recognized as one of the area's better examples of early twentieth-century residential architecture. They built forty-seven houses around the U-shaped Central Court and along Thirty-sixth Street and Central Avenue; seven face Central Avenue, ten face Thirty-sixth Street, and thirty face Central Court.: 58 In 2004, Central Court was designated a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is by far the smallest historic district in its portion of the city, being dwarfed by areas such as Meridian Park a short distance to the southwest.: 6