dan goodwin

A leaking propane tank and an electric popcorn warmer killed 74 people at an Indianapolis ice show on Halloween night, 1963. It was The Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum. Opening night of Holiday on Ice, and Shriners Night. More than 4,000 people came. The show ran late. Just after 11 p.m., during the finale, gas that had leaked from a tank in a concession storeroom under the south side seats reached the popcorn warmer. About 700 square feet of concrete lifted out from under the box seats around Aisle 13. People landed 60 feet away. Minutes later the remaining tanks went off. The band kept playing. The cattle barn became a hospital. The ice became a morgue, under the red and green lanterns from the show. A crane was brought in to lift the slabs. A grand jury indicted seven people, including the state fire marshal and the city fire chief. One man was convicted, of assault and battery. The Indiana Supreme Court reversed it. Every other charge was dropped. Ten months later, the Beatles played the same building. It is still there, now called the Corteva Coliseum. A plaque photographed inside in 2014 lists the dead. Its source line reads: Indiana State Police report, November 1, 1963. The day after the ice show.