NOBLESVILLE — Professional sports have officially arrived in Noblesville now that the Arena at Innovation Mile is complete.
The Indiana Pacers moved its NBA G League team to the 3,500-seat arena and renamed them the Noblesville Boom. The team formerly known as the Fort Wayne Mad Ants played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for two seasons while the Arena at Innovation Mile was under construction.
"The players deserve an arena that is fitting for NBA-style basketball," said Noblesville mayor Chris Jensen. "People are now coming here to see NBA-quality basketball right in their backyard."
The Arena at Innovation Mile is poised to attract basketball fans to Noblesville and developers to the empty plots of land near Interstate 69 and Ruoff Music Center.
"Noblesville is only about 60% built out, and this is the underdeveloped part of the city here," Jensen said. "This is what's going to take Noblesville into being a top-five population city in the state of Indiana. Don't tell our friends across the interstate."
Jensen's quote refers to Fishers, which also built a new arena recently: the 7,500-seat Fishers Event Center, a few exits away, which opened in November.
Ricardo Zermeno grew up in Noblesville and is intrigued by the new development in his city.
"It's changed a lot. I remember when the Hamilton Town Center first opened and I said, 'Oh my God, we have a mall, let's go check it out,'" Zermeno said. "I guess I'm getting old because I'm reminiscing, but it's cool. I like seeing the new mixed with the old."
The Arena at Innovation Mile will officially open during Noblesville's State of the City event on August 8. It will host concerts by a Pink Floyd cover band and Vanilla Ice before the G League season starts.
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