Brickyard Crossing Inn Closes

[cosworth151]

The Brickyard Crossing Inn--a landmark familiar to anyone who ever drove down 16th Street while attending a race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway--will close immediately and be razed in a few months, said Joie Chitwood, president and chief operating officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation.

Like Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Brickyard Crossing Inn has famous history. Besides being the home for several Indianapolis 500 drivers and owners over the years during the month of May, scenes from Paul Newman's movie Winning were filmed in some of the motel's rooms. NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon celebrated his win in the inaugural Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in 1994 by eating a pizza in his motel room.

The Inn is part of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course, which runs through the infield of the Speedway.

The motel was built in 1963 on the eastern edge of the IMS grounds. It has 96 rooms.

"To bring the motel up to the standards and quality of what guests expect at the Speedway would require significant capital expenditures," Chitwood said. "After reviewing the alternatives, we have decided to discontinue its operation."

"IMS has been looking at alternatives to the future of the motel property for several years, including constructing a new hotel," Chitwood continued. "We continue to evaluate how a new hotel operation on Speedway property might fit in with the planned redevelopment of the town of Speedway.

"To date, we have reviewed proposals from several groups and have met with some of these firms. We're farther along than we've ever been in the process to build a new hotel at IMS."

The closure will not affect the main Brickyard Crossing building, which is home to the Flag Room pub, conference space and the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course Golf Shop. All will continue operations. Closure of the motel involves the termination of 15 permanent employees.