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Indianapolis Top Pick for 2000 Convention

By Tara McCoy

As many know, the Republican National Committee is currently seeking a perfect site to hold it's year 2000 convention. Over the summer the site-selection committee toured a number of cities. All of the cities toured were attempting to convince the committee that their city was capable of hosting such a prestigious event.

One of those cities was Indianapolis. Committee members were greeted by the Eli Lilly corporate jet and taken to their plush hotel rooms at the Hyatt Regency, downtown Indianapolis. Throughout their stay, they were transported by motorcoach provided by The Free Enterprise System. During the week they met with officials from the city of Indianapolis, including the mayor, Stephen Goldsmith. They discussed a number of issues, which are of concern because of the massive numbers who will be attending the convention in the year 2000.

These issues ranged from hotel space, facilities, transportation, to dining. They were given tours of many of these facilities. They were reassured that their needs could be met by the city of Indianapolis. The tour included the RCA Dome and the Convention Center. As they were touring these facilities, and hearing the amenities provided by both, many citizens of the Indianapolis area were assembling outside. As the committee left the meeting, all of the citizens were dressed in service uniforms to show off the diversity and options provided by the city.

The committee expressed their gratitude for the time and enthusiasm of all those involved. Another event was the reception party at the Children's Museum. Many Republican officials and all of those involved in making the event possible were invited. Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments were served. The committee had the opportunity to tour the Museum and also converse with the officials of the city. This was just one more opportunity to show off luxuries of the city of Indianapolis. After this, their night was capped off by being transported to the Governor's mansion for dinner and a tour. Following dinner, they were taken to their hotel rooms for the night.

This event would mean great revenue for the city and also the merchants of the city. Because of this, the city attempted to accommodate them in every way possible. The committee was presented with many gifts throughout the week. Boxes were placed in their hotel rooms and all they had to do was place their belongings in the boxes. The city took care of mailing the packages to their homes. This made everything less complicated for the committee.

In September, the committee announced that they had narrowed the number of cities in contention and Indianapolis was still in consideration to host the convention. This coming week of October 4-10, the committee will return to Indianapolis to further explore the possibilities of Indianapolis hosting the Republican National Convention in the year 2000. The main focus of this trip will be to view the hotel accommodations and ensure that there is enough space. The committee's final decision will be made sometime in January. This convention would be the biggest to ever come to the city of Indianapolis.




Eric Seymour


Robert Schiener


Joel Corbin


Rush Reagan