Published: July 19, 2008 10:48 pm            

Preparations continue at Rose for Colts arrival

TERRE HAUTE — Another NFL season is coming soon and — for the Indianapolis Colts — it all starts in Terre Haute.

Colts front office equipment arrived Friday at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on U.S. 40 East as preparations continued for the Colts’ 2008 summer training camp, which runs from July 24 to Aug. 15.

“There’s a lot of work,” said Matt Sinclair, director for recreational sports/athletic facilities at Rose-Hulman. “We have a very successful formula with the Indianapolis Colts.”

This is the 10th year the Colts have used Rose-Hulman as their summer training facility, Sinclair said. The team recently signed a multiyear agreement to continue training at Rose-Hulman.

The success or failure of any NFL training camp is reflected in the first few games of the regular season, Sinclair said. By this measure, the Colts camp at Rose-Hulman has been a huge success.

Since 1999, the Colts have won all but one of their regular season opening games. Over the same period, the team won all but five of the first three games of each season for an overall season-starting record of 22 and 5.

“It’s all about wins and losses,” Sinclair said.

Colts provide a kick for the local economy

Colts camp also provides a boost for Terre Haute’s economy and image, local officials and business people said.

“It gives you a reason to be proud of your community,” said Rod Henry, president of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce. Hosting Colts camp makes it easier to attract prospective businesses to the city, he said. “It does place you in a special category. It gives you some bragging rights.”

Last year, Colts camp had record fan attendance of more than 27,000, according to the Rose-Hulman Web site. In previous years, attendance was around 21,000. Last year’s camp had added appeal because the Colts were defending Super Bowl champions.

“You meet [Colts fans] from everywhere” during the training camp, said Denise Story, national sales representative for Best Western Global. The Terre Haute Best Western hotel already has guests booked for this year’s camp, she said, adding that many fans come year-after-year and from several states away. “They are true blue Colts fans,” she said.

The Colts training camp is among the most “fan-friendly” camps in the NFL, according to John Clayton, a football analyst for ESPN. In a write-up on the ESPN Web site, Clayton refers to the popular “Colts City” activities, which take place at selected times during the first half of camp.

Colts camp is “a family setting for a family-oriented team,” Clayton writes.

Many local restaurants and nightclubs benefit from extra business during the Colts training camp and some even get a glimpse of Colts stars.

Two years ago, “Peyton Manning came in here with his wife,” said Liz Torrence, owner of Kleptz’s Restaurant on U.S. 40 just a couple of miles west of Rose-Hulman. It was a slow night at the independent steak house when the Mannings came in, so the couple was not “bombarded” by fans, Torrence said. “It was really nice.” Colts officials also eat at Kleptz’s during the camp, Torrence noted.

“We do appreciate what the Colts do for Terre Haute and for us and for all of Indiana,” Torrence said.

Local fast food restaurants also benefit from the Colts camp.

“We’ve been talking about it for probably two weeks,” said Jean Smith, area supervisor for McDonald’s Corp. Many Colts fans eat at the McDonald’s on Wabash Avenue in Terre Haute or the one near Interstate 70 on Indiana 46, she said. “We wanted to make sure that we were staffed up and geared up for it,” she said.

Visiting fans may temporarily boost the local economy, but Colts camp also makes it easier for economic development and tourism officials to promote Terre Haute, said Dave Patterson, executive director of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“The Colts carry a lot of clout,” Patterson said. “It’s just a great thing for our community.”

King-sized beds and bee stings

Colts camp also means a boost for people in the security business, local police officials said. Terre Haute and Vigo County police officers and deputies are hired to work in their off-duty hours for the Colts camp, said Vigo County Sheriff Jon Marvel. The officers are paid by the Colts so there is no added cost to taxpayers, he said.

“It takes a large number of [police] officers to get it done,” said Gary Flora, director of the Office of Public Safety at Rose-Hulman. “We are very blessed in Vigo County and Terre Haute to have the … level of law enforcement professionalism” we have, he said. “It’s a blessing to bring them all together in a concerted effort to have a positive camp.”

There has never been a major criminal or medical problem at the camp, Flora noted. The biggest problems are typically bee stings and heat exhaustion, he said. “We’ve hosted the camp for so long now, we’ve got it down pretty good.”

During the three-week camp, Colts players live in dorm rooms at Rose-Hulman, Sinclair said. The dorms have small kitchens and are basically two-bedroom apartments, he said. Because the players are so large, two twin beds are secured together to make a single king-sized bed for each Colt, Sinclair said.

Only a couple of dozen cities in America are able to host NFL training camps, Sinclair noted. “We’ve always thought it was great for the community,”

The Colts players are scheduled to arrive at Rose-Hulman Thursday. Practice begins Friday morning. The complete training camp schedule is available online at www.rose-hulman.edu.

“I think we just have two solid groups [Rose-Hulman and the Colts] that fit together well,” Sinclair said. While the more than 100 Rose-Hulman staff members who work the camp are Colts fans, “We’re not here as fans,” Sinclair said. “We are here to provide a service … and make the best camp possible.”

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

        

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