INDIANAPOLIS — The Federal Aviation Administration has decided to keep the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport open for aviation uses.

The heliport, located in the heart of downtown, once provided access for medical emergencies, police work, pilot training, and commercial travel.

The decision stops the permanent closure of the 5.36-acre site and reverses a 2024 plan that would have let the Indianapolis Airport Authority sell the land.

Federal officials based the move largely on arguments from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and other state agencies.

The Indianapolis Office of the Mayor, however, expressed strong opposition to the move in a written statement, saying the city disagrees with the FAA’s reversal. The statement said the decision ignores the city’s goals and the interests of its residents.

A victory for public safety, says AG

In a news release issued Friday from the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, Rokita called the decision a victory for taxpayers and public safety.

He noted the downtown heliport is an asset that supports critical flights — including medical, police, and military missions — while serving as a hub for new flight technology.

He had argued that closing the site for redevelopment would have been shortsighted and a waste of millions in taxpayer investment, comparing a potential closure to the loss of Meigs Field, a prominent single-runway airport on a Michigan Lake island southeast of downtown Chicago.

A long battle over the site

The Indianapolis Airport Authority originally moved to decommission the Washington Street facility because it believed the financial cost of running the site was higher than its public value. At the time, the airport authority cited declining use, noting IU Health’s LifeLine helicopter was the last full-time tenant at the site.

Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration had initially hoped to use the land for a professional soccer stadium to help secure a Major League Soccer team. However, the mayor’s office recently confirmed that the proposed MLS stadium project has moved to a site next to Lucas Oil Stadium.

The bidding controversy

The fight to keep the heliport open intensified in mid-2026 when Chuck Surack, owner of Sweet Helicopters, offered $14 million to buy the property. Surack intended to keep the facility running as an aviation hub.

The Indianapolis Airport Authority ignored that higher offer and instead approved a $10.9 million sale to the city government. Rokita joined other critics who called that deal a waste of taxpayer money and a threat to public safety infrastructure.

Federal reasoning for the reversal

In its final analysis, the FAA highlighted several reasons for keeping the facility open:

• The benefit of keeping existing infrastructure for current flights and future technology, such as drones and electric flying taxis.
• The Indiana Department of Transportation’s recommendation to keep the heliport in the state’s aviation system.
• The clear interest from Sweet Helicopters to run the site for public use.
• New federal priorities that favor keeping aviation assets to help roll out new technologies safely.