John Stehr/Eyewitness News
Zionsville - Indianapolis isn't the only city with a stake in next year's Super Bowl. Everything about the Super Bowl is big, but a small Indiana town hopes to get its share.
For Zionsville, the Super Bowl could be a "high noon" moment, and Town Councilor Valerie Swack is running a group that will try to attract football fans during in the week leading up to the game. Z-Bowl will do it with a temporary ice skating rink, fireworks, and parades, along with a full-on hospitality offensive.
"It's a good way to introduce yourself to a whole host of people who wouldn't normally know you're out there," said Swack.
Super Bowl visitors may need to come out to Zionsville, especially if they are hungry. Instead of waiting for hours to get into a downtown Indianapolis restaurant, Zionsville will promote its 1,000 restaurant seats and Super Bowl specials - like the one percolating at the Serenity Tea room.
"For the Super Bowel attendees, we are actually going to come up with special teas for the teams that are going to be involved in the Super Bowl," said Debbie Bossi, Serenity Tea.
The Z-Bowl committee has no shortage of volunteers to help, including a local who once played in the Super Bowl, former Colts punter Hunter Smith, who says this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Zionsville.
"It's about this is where we live, these are the people we know, that we love and we want to join together with them to promote something great," said Smith.
If it works, it would also be great for main street businesses, for whom January and February are normally the slowest months of the year. But Zionsville is looking for more than just a short-term economic boost.
Indianapolis Executive Airport is less than 10 miles up the road, and they already have reservations that will more than double their traffic in the week leading up to the Super Bowl. That's people in private and chartered jets coming to town.
Z-Bowl will send them information on available land, the highly-educated workforce, possible tax incentives and even show off its arts community during Super Bowl Week.
"I think the arts are an integral part of economic development in any community and I think especially in Zionsville because we have a naturally occurring arts community in this area," said Robert Goodman, Zionsville business owner.
The town has set aside $30,000 for the promotional effort so that by the time the game kicks off, Zionsville will have its share of the returns.
The entire Z-Bowl budget will go to economic development efforts. Volunteers are raising money for the fun things, like the ice rink and fireworks. They are having a major fundraiser April 30th at Executive Airport.
Z-Bowl
