The building has two living rooms and a variety of accessory spaces. Upon entering the Ohio Street front door, visitors encounter the Great Hall, the main living room. It will be available to the public for special events, ceremonies, meetings, and other activities. Today the IHS's impresarios are hard at work programming those spaces with activities that will make this building a worthy addition to the constellation of great Hoosier institutions. This building will be one of the most dynamic places in the state and an integral part of a building renaissance along the Central Canal, where it will complement the new Indiana State Museum , the new National Collegiate Athletic Association headquarters and museum, and the expanded Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art .
Architecture is, above all, a social art.
As a symbol, it has the power to represent our quest for fellowship. As a stage set, it has the power to enlighten life's dramas. Put to the task of strengthening the bonds between us and the bonds with those who walked before us, architecture is an able and willing servant. I have no doubt that you will find your encounters with the Indiana Historical Society as rewarding and stimulating as I have. C. Ronald Ostberg, director of design at The Stubbins Associates, who was responsible for the Society's new headquarters, recently talked about the building before the Rotary Club of Indianapolis.