The Pacers on Thursday unveiled their new "state-of-the-art Downtown training facility," St. Vincent Center, a five-story, 130,000-square-foot facility that will give the Pacers "one of the best, if not the best, practice facility" in the NBA, according to Clifton Brown of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Located across the street from Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the facility's features "include two NBA-regulation courts, an enormous weight room, saunas, whirlpools, a video room featuring move theater-style seats, a locker room, a player's lounge and a training room." Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said, "This matches the market. You've got the Fieldhouse which has aged perfectly, and is an elite place to play games. Now you have a training facility that matches the fieldhouse." He added, "It feels like a little bit of an arms race, in terms of facilities and sports performance." Brown notes St. Vincent will "provide care and treatment in the new facility not only for players, but for the public." The new facility will "begin treating patients next week" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/25). In Indianapolis, Anthony Schoettle noted St. Vincent, which has been a Pacers sponsor for almost a decade, is now the "Exclusive Health Care Provider of the Pacers." Financial terms of that deal were not disclosed. The facility, designed by locally-based Ratio Architects, also has an 8,500-square-foot rooftop garden, which "currently features basil, corn, lettuce, radishes and bok choy." Vegetables grown in the garden will be "used in-house by the Pacers' food services provider, Levy Catering, and donated to Second Helpings, a local not-for-profit focused on hunger relief." Pacers officials said the entire facility was "privately financed" by team Owner Herb Simon (IBJ.com, 8/24).
