INDIANAPOLIS (May 6, 2005) -- Governor Mitch Daniels made two appointments today to the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority that will oversee the design and construction of a new Indianapolis Colts stadium and expansion of the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.

 

David Frick, who recently retired from WellPoint, Inc. (formerly Anthem), in Indianapolis, and Charles Golden, an Eli Lilly and Co. executive, will serve on the authority, which will commence work on May 15.

 

“Charlie is one of the smartest businessmen and most tight-fisted financial people I know,” said the governor. “Dave has been deeply involved in several preceding public works projects. Nobody knows this area better than Dave. I’m very happy to have both of them on board.”

 

Frick retired as WellPoint’s executive vice president and chief legal and administrative officer in March. He joined the company in 1995 and played an important role in the merger of Anthem and WellPoint in 2004. He was deputy mayor of Indianapolis from 1977 to 1982 and worked as a partner in the Indianapolis law firm of Baker and Daniels from 1987 to 1992.

 

Golden, a Fort Wayne native, is Lilly’s executive vice president and chief financial officer as well as a member of the board of directors. He joined Lilly in 1996. Golden is responsible for information technology, finance, procurement, Elanco Animal Health and PCS Health Systems. Previously, he was a corporate vice president of General Motors and chairman of GM’s vehicle operations in the United Kingdom.

 

The mayor of Indianapolis will make two appointments. Two other appointments to the seven-member board will be recommended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President Pro Tempore. The other representative will be an individual from the seven counties adjacent to Marion County that provide the base for regional financial support of the project.

 

The governor said he will charge authority members to protect taxpayer dollars on the $900 million project, to “Buy Indiana,” and to effectively utilize minority and women-owned contractors.

“Job one is an on time, on budget world class pair of facilities,” said Daniels.

The governor also outlined a step the state has taken to lock in an interest rate of 4.3 to 4.4 percent for the stadium/convention center project. He said the $12 million expenditure to lock in the rate will lower annual interest charges from an estimated $53 million annual to as low as $47 million annually and save $5 million to $6 million each year over the 30-year financing of the project.

Construction on the stadium project is expected to begin this summer. The Indiana General Assembly approved legislation on April 29 that authorizes financing for the project. In the next few months, local governments in Central Indiana will meet to act on the proposed local tax increases necessary to finance the project.

 The bill (HEA 1120) was sent to the governor’s office today and awaits signature.

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Media contact:  Jane Jankowski, Office of the Governor, 317/232-1622, jjankowski@gov.in.gov