INDIANAPOLIS -- The transformation of Indianapolis for the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials isn't just inside of Lucas Oil Stadium, with downtown Indy is seeing some major changes too.
Georgia Street looks like a miniature Paris as a 66-foot tall Eiffel Tower replica towers above the crowds moving in and out of the Indiana Convention Center.
It's been a huge project for the Latinas Welding Guild for the past few months.
” Women-led, Latina led, Latino led," said Consuelo Lockhart. "It meant a lot for us to be able to represent our community."
Lockhart is the CEO and founder of the group. A team of nine welders from the guild spent more than a thousand hours fabricating the structure.
”How many people in their welding careers can say they welded up an Eiffel Tower for the Swimming Olympic Trials," Lockhart asked.
The Eiffel Tower will be the centerpiece of a lot of fun on Georgia Street over the nine days of the swim trials.
The Indianapolis Eiffel Tower is already attracting eyes as folks stop to take photos.
It’s a reminder that not all of the action for the nine days of Olympic swim trials will be happening in the pools inside Lucas Oil stadium.
”We're going to have free concerts every single night from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. We’re going to have a swim-up bar. Keep your clothes on, you don't need a swimsuit," said Dan Gilot with the Indiana Sports Corp.
All of this will be free. It's called USA Swimming Live. It'll be open starting June 15, along with the Toyota Aquazone inside the Indiana Convention Center.
Everything about the activities is swimming and water-themed. You can even race your friends in a virtual pool.
”We’re creating a three-person, VR game-based experience where you're going to be able to come down here on Georgia Street and compete against somebody else in a pool. You don't have to be proficient at swimming to do it, anybody can get in our virtual pool and swim against each other to the finish line," said Christian Rogers, an associate professor of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University Indianapolis.
You don’t need to know how to do a backstroke or butterfly to feel just a little bit closer to the Olympians in the pool down the street.
”You're going to be moving your hands and you're going to see your swimmer go and whoever gets to the finish line at the very end of the pool wins," said Rogers.
Across downtown, you’ll find bars and restaurants getting in on the fun with the Indy Goes Gold program.
"Where restaurants are having special deals for all of these fans coming in," Gilot said. "So, you can buy specialty drinks and specialty dishes that are all at discounted prices."
The swim trials represent a rare opportunity for the Circle City. Indy is used to hosting football and basketball events in the colder months, but a huge sporting event in warm weather is something the circle city doesn’t see often, especially one lasting nine days with more than 250,000 visitors expected.
"I think everyone is just really excited to get involved," Gilot said. "Can you think of another event that is activating for 10 straight nights downtown like swimming trials? It just doesn't happen."
The trials will start on June 16 with expected record-breaking attendance on the first night of finals. June 15 will kick off the fun with a Starting Block Party on Georgia Street.