The Short Version
Indianapolis is converting the west block of Georgia Street into a park between South Capitol Avenue and South Illinois Street. Merritt Chase reported construction under way in a release dated 12 February 2025. WFYI reported on 26 March 2025 that the work was in full swing and put the project cost at $9.1 million.
Visit Indy lists the west block opening as October 2026. The Signia by Hilton Indianapolis and the Indiana Convention Center expansion are listed for December 2026 at $710 million.
What the Block Becomes
Merritt Chase's project page describes the phase. The street becomes a park setting with plaza areas that carry active programming, lawn and garden spaces, a grove with public art, and a canopy structure that provides shade. The firm designed the street for the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development.
WFYI reported the plan to close the western section to traffic day to day, with lanes accessible when needed. The 2012 overhaul built the boardwalks, the overhead shade system and the seating that made the street an event venue. The current work builds on that version.
Published Delivery Dates
Dates for the park differ by publisher. Merritt Chase's February 2025 release states that the new park environment will open in the spring of 2026. WFYI's March 2025 report states completion in the spring of 2026. Visit Indy's new-developments page lists the west block opening as October 2026. Its construction page, last updated in July 2026, schedules the full three-block redevelopment by fall 2026.
December 2026 is the date Visit Indy publishes for the Signia by Hilton Indianapolis and the Indiana Convention Center expansion. That entry reads $710 million, a 143,500-square-foot expansion with a 50,000-square-foot ballroom, and an 803-room hotel standing 38 stories. The west block fronts both buildings.
What Changes on the Ground
Visit Indy's construction page records Georgia Street between Capitol Avenue and Illinois Street as closed to vehicular traffic and to pedestrian traffic. Illinois Street is closed from South Street to Georgia Street. Capitol Avenue is closed from Ohio Street to South Street for through traffic through September 2026, with access to the Crowne Plaza available.
The skywalk between the Omni Severin Hotel and Circle Centre Mall came down in the fourth quarter of 2025 and is permanently closed, on Visit Indy's own construction page.
Visit Indy states the planner-facing purpose on its new-developments page. The vision is for a public outdoor space that can be easily activated by convention and meeting planners to extend the footprint of their events. The convention center's attendee pages count 7,100 hotel rooms in downtown Indianapolis, 4,700 of them connected by skywalk.
Open Items Before the Block Opens
No published document states a capacity for the lawn, plaza or canopy area. No document carries a fee schedule, an insurance requirement, a load-in window or a programming calendar for the block.
Downtown Indy publishes a general inquiry form for groups that want to hold an event on Georgia Street.
Four items stay open for a property on the corridor. They are the confirmed opening date, the permitted footprint and capacity of each space, the coach drop-off and load allocation, and the first season's event calendar.