“Retro” was the name of the game when architect Ellerbe Becket designed plans in 1999 for Bankers Life Fieldhouse – the 18,000+ seat, $180 million home to the Indiana Pacers in downtown Indianapolis. A celebration of Indiana basketball tradition with a tribute to the state’s most memorable high school and collegiate fieldhouses was the inspiration behind the development, which boasts of being the “first fully themed arena in the world.”
Tnemec coatings were specified for the interior and exterior structural steel at the fieldhouse, formerly known as Conseco Fieldhouse. The exterior steel was shop primed with Series 90-97 Tneme-Zinc, a zinc-rich, aromatic urethane. Once in the field, an intermediate coat of Series 161 Tneme-Fascure, a corrosion-resistant, fast-cure epoxy was brush- and roller-applied, followed by a dark green coat of Series 73 Endura-Shield, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane.
A topcoat of Series 76 Endura-Clear, a unique aliphatic polyurethane clearcoat, was applied to complete the coating system. “Series 76 was used on the exterior steel to protect and enhance the color coat of Series 73,” said Tnemec coating consultant Jeff Parish. “With a structure that’s one hundred feet in the air, you want to ensure that it won’t have to be recoated anytime in the near future. This coating system worked perfectly.”
The interior structural steel was prepared in accordance with SSPC-SP6/NACE No. 3 Commercial Blast Cleaning and arrived on site after having been primed with Series 161.
“We used Series 161 in the field as needed for any touchups to the overhead steel, and we were able to save the owners a lot of money with this approach without sacrificing quality,” noted Parish.“Everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed this project, and Bankers Life Fieldhouse remains as popular today as when it first opened.”