If you’ve ever been a part of a construction or renovation project, you know that there’s an “arc” of how things appear to be going.

• Right after demolition, once everything has been stripped away and cleaned up, you start to see the real potential of what’s to come
• Then you get into the actual build out work…where for a good long while there’s just enough “structure” to show you where things are headed, but not quite enough detail for it to look complete. During this period things seem to perpetually look messy and terrible.
• Then, as you get into the last 10-15% of finish work, it starts to feel real again.

That arc is an emotional rollercoaster for the uninitiated. It takes some patience and confidence to see the things that are off and fix them while letting other things come together over time.

Indy Hall crossed into that final part of the arc this past week.

2 weeks ago I walked the space with our electrician and realized that the lighting pattern that had been proposed just didn’t make a lick of sense. Luckily, I had pushed the engineers to design the power system itself to be flexible, and over the course of a few hours we adjusted the placement of our lighting fixtures. If we hadn’t caught that at the last minute and just let things go, it would’ve looked awful.

The new version we came up with in those last few hours is SO much better than anything we could’ve come up with in a CAD drawing. Being in the space, walking the floor, feeling the natural light and how the fixtures would look and feel in physical space made the world of a difference.

This past week, the flooring went down. The kitchen cabinets and appliances were placed. Doors were hung and glass was installed. And less than 30 minutes before over 100 people gathered in the new space for our first Town Hall inside it together, a dozen pieces of art were hung and the first splashes of color were painted on the walls by our members.

But more than anything, it was having those 100+ members and friends in the space together that made it truly feel real. That’s when I knew for sure that we’d done it right.

Over a year ago, I asked our community “What is the future of Indy Hall?” and reminded everyone that WE get to decide.

And we have decided. The future looks bright – literally and figuratively.

Chris Morrell “snapped” these Photosynth 360 degree interactive panoramas below. You can see that there’s still some work being done, but for the first time we really get a sense of what we’re working with to make this place feel like home.

If you want to see visit Indy Hall one more time at 22 North 3rd Street, this month is your last chance.

Because on Monday, August 22nd, Indy Hall’s new home will be buzzing with life. We’ll see you there.