Butler University has received a $9 million grant from the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation (AW Clowes Charitable Foundation) to support a multi-phased renovation and expansion of Clowes Memorial Hall. The grant will also support the construction of a new, multi-purpose venue adjacent to Clowes Hall, which can shift between being a 1,200-1,450-capacity music hall and a reception and private event space. The renovation and expansion projects will launch the development of a $100 million Midtown Arts District that is part of the Butler Gateway Project, the University’s master plan to create a vibrant, interconnected community between Butler University and Midtown Indianapolis. 

Butler University’s grant is the second largest ever awarded by the AW Clowes Charitable Foundation. It provides an important tribute to the foundation’s namesake, Allen Whitehill Clowes, who passed away in 2000. Mr. Clowes was a philanthropist, civic leader, arts patron, and business executive, and helped lead the construction of Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University, which opened in 1963 as home to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, Clowes Memorial Hall was ranked the No.1 ticket-selling venue in Indiana and 80th in the world according to Pollstar. 

Grant-funded renovations to Clowes Memorial Hall will begin in June 2025, marking the start of a multi-phase transformation that will greatly enhance the venue’s accessibility, comfort, and capability to add more world-class performances. 

• Phase One will bring much-needed upgrades to the seating across the theater’s three balcony terraces, including the addition of open-air suites for a more luxurious experience. Restrooms will be renovated and expanded, with the addition of 13 new gender-neutral facilities, ensuring a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all patrons. 

• Phase Two will improve operational efficiency with the installation of two additional loading docks, allowing for smoother logistics and enhanced capabilities for large-scale events, including Broadway touring productions. 

• Phase Three will focus on significant stage upgrades, including the addition of rigging points and reinforced flooring to accommodate the demands of modern Broadway tours, enhancing the venue’s ability to host top-tier productions and performances. 

• Phase Four will introduce the Allen Whitehill Clowes Ballroom to the east lobby, a new, versatile event space that will open in spring 2027. This addition will further elevate the facility’s role as a cultural centerpiece, offering more opportunities for community engagement and artistic expression. 

The renovations made possible by the grant set the stage for a $100 million Midtown Arts District on campus, with Clowes Memorial Hall serving as its centerpiece. The Midtown Arts District is a key piece of Butler’s ambitious Gateway Project, Butler President James Danko’s broader vision to create a vibrant, interconnected community between Butler University and Midtown Indianapolis. Danko envisions the Midtown Arts District becoming a transformative hub for live performances, thought-provoking lectures, stunning exhibitions, and world-class arts education. 

Future plans call for the construction of additional venues and amenities, including a multi-purpose convention center positioned between Clowes Memorial Hall and the Sunset Avenue parking garage, which will maximize the potential of the previously announced Curio Hotel by Hilton that is expected to open on campus in 2027. Plans also call for the creation of an outdoor plaza to the south of Clowes Memorial Hall that will allow patrons to safely mingle and queue as they prepare to enter the venues. 

With its expanded menu of venues and its location on the campus of a nationally recognized university, Butler’s Midtown Arts District will be uniquely positioned to serve as a true cultural anchor in Indianapolis by supporting the arts education programs and performances of Midtown schools, community centers, and not-for-profit arts organizations. 

“The renovations to Clowes Memorial Hall are going to greatly improve the patron experience, and also allow us to bring more Broadway, music, and comedy performances to the theater,” Danko said. “The impact that the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation has had on arts and humanities initiatives in Indianapolis over the years cannot be overstated, and Butler University is tremendously grateful for this gift that will significantly improve the venue that honors Mr. Clowes’ legacy and bears his name.” 

Allen Whitehill Clowes loved the arts, music, horticulture, and community life, and created the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation in 1990 as a major philanthropic foundation to support the arts and humanities in Indianapolis. The AW Clowes Charitable Foundation’s full funding was made following Mr. Clowes’ death in November of 2000. It has served more than 230 organizations and distributed more than $154 million of charitable grants focused on arts and humanities. 

“The Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation is delighted to support major renovations of Clowes Memorial Hall and the addition of an adjacent new multipurpose facility,” Dr. James Lemler, president of the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, said. “Mr. Clowes had a passion for performing arts and a vision for an outstanding performance hall as an expression of the commitment to the arts he shared with his family. He also had his own great spirit of generosity and philanthropy resulting in the decision to create his charitable foundation as a legacy to support numerous arts endeavors and organizations in this city and the surrounding area. The Clowes Memorial Hall renovations and addition of the new Allen Whitehill Clowes Ballroom will have impact on arts and community with far-reaching impact at Butler University, an excellent institution of higher education that he deeply respected, and in Midtown Indianapolis where he lived for most of his life and for which he had great affection. Allen Clowes believed in the power of the arts to sustain, heal, and transform communities and people in their lives. This project and partnership manifest Mr. Clowes’ vision and values and the foundation’s continuing mission.” 

Clowes Memorial Hall opened in 1963 at a cost of $3.5 million and currently seats 2,148 patrons. Its construction was made possible by major donations from Allen Whitehill Clowes in memory of his father George H.A. Clowes. The building was co-designed by noted Indianapolis architect Evans Woollen III and John M. Johansen. Johansen had been Woollen’s professor at Yale and was a former classmate of Allen Whitehill Clowes at Harvard University. Clowes Memorial Hall was listed in 2021 as one of Indianapolis’s “Top 10 Architecturally Wondrous Buildings” by a six-person panel of American Institute of Architects. 

Clowes Memorial Hall is expected to be closed from June-October 2025 to accommodate the first three phases of renovations. The Allen Whitehill Clowes Ballroom is anticipated to open in spring 2027.