When Clowes Memorial Hall opened on Butler University’s campus in October 1963, it was the place to be in Indianapolis.
The Indianapolis Star described the event as a “civic rejoicing,” as over 2,000 people gathered to celebrate. The opening marked the first performing arts center built in Indy since the Murat over 50 years earlier.
But Clowes’ construction wasn’t just about arts and culture — building a world-class theater was about Indianapolis’ reputation. After World War II, the city was eager to make a name for itself and kick off its “Indianoplace” nickname.
“It was going to put the city on the map,” said Phil Cox, coauthor of a forthcoming biography about Indianapolis native Evans Woollen III, who is one of Clowes’ two architects. “The aspirations and ambitions for the city spearheaded by the Clowes (family), by Butler, by others, were really manifest in the building.”
Butler announced in December the university would renovate and expand Clowes using a $9 million gift from the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation. Plans for the updated hall include new bathrooms, seating and technical renovations and, most notably, constructing a ballroom space, similar to the Murat Egyptian Room at Old National Centre, to host more concerts and events. That addition will open spring 2027.
The changes are part of Butler’s plan to create an arts hub in midtown Indianapolis, with Clowes at the center. But Butler faces the challenge of renovating a historically significant building.
“How can we start making renovations that bring us back to the original intent of the design of the building, but also in a way that helps us with modern event management?” asked Aaron Hurt, Butler’s vice president of arts, events and enterprise management.
How Clowes changed Indianapolis
In the 1960s in Indianapolis, Clowes’ design was downright revolutionary.
Clowes is built in the brutalist style, a controversial architectural method characterized by raw concrete and plain, geometric forms. That’s a contrast to classical architecture, with ornamental details and columns, like that of Hilbert Circle Theatre and the Palladium in Carmel.
Woollen, Clowes’ architect, is credited with bringing brutalism to Indianapolis, and the theater was his first major project.
“It was something that the city really hadn’t seen before,” said Niall Cronin, coauthor of the Woollen biography, “that most of the world hadn’t seen before.”
The hall was commissioned to honor doctor and arts patron George Clowes, best known for introducing mass insulin production at Eli Lilly and Co.
Woollen was 32 when he was chosen for the project. Because of his youth and relative inexperience, he teamed up with nationally renowned architect John Johansen.
“(Woollen) had no business doing a project this large at the time, and it made the rest of his career possible,” Cox said.
Woollen went on to design a number of Indy landmarks, including the Central Library’s atrium addition and the Minton-Capehart Federal Building.
It wasn’t just Clowes’ style that made the theater such an influential project — it was also a highly regarded performance space. Many of the consultants from New York’s Lincoln Center also worked on Clowes, meaning its lighting, seating and acoustics were world-class.
In 1967, a New York Times reviewer, Robert Gover, wrote a piece on his experience attending a show at Clowes. While he had nothing nice to say about Indianapolis, he effusively praised the theater itself.
“I have never seen a theater better suited for theatergoers than Clowes Hall,” Gover wrote.
Building the future
When Clowes was built, the minds behind the project hoped the theater would bring Indianapolis into the future. And now, the university wants the expansion to further ensure that legacy.
By adding the new ballroom space, Hurt hopes Clowes will offer more contemporary concerts, appealing more to Butler students and other younger patrons. Improving technical systems and adding loading docks will make it easier to bring touring Broadway shows to Indianapolis.
“We’re not just trying to add more seats to squeeze more money out of patrons,” Hurt said. “We want people to choose to come here, not just because their favorite artist is coming here, but because they have a good time here.”
At the same time, Butler is faced with the weight of preserving Clowes’ history and the original architectural vision.
The university is working with Indianapolis-based architectural firm Browning Day.
Cosmetic renovations to Clowes, Hurt said, are meant to restore the building to its original design. For example, the university plans to revert to the original seating layouts in the box seats and return the walls of the theater to their original white.
As for the expansion, Hurt said, they’re planning the exterior design for the new ballroom to blend in with Clowes, but also make it distinct.
“I don’t want it to be renovated to something that’s not right,” Hurt said. “Any renovations we do to Clowes — how do we do that so that we’re keeping this building going another 60 years?”
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or on Instagram/X/Bluesky @clairerafford.
