Eiffel Tower replica erected near Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis

Before the U.S. Olympic swim team heads off to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in August, a slice of Paris was brought to Indianapolis for the 9-day U.S. Olympic Swim Trials with the construction of a 66-foot, 14,000-pound replica of the Eiffel Tower, which was erected at the intersection of Georgia Street and Capitol Avenue outside of the Lucas Oil Stadium. 

Putting this masterpiece together turned out to be a group effort, says Luke Bland, the director of specialty metals at Poynter Sheet Metal.

“Our parent company is F.A. Wilhelm Construction, and they are the ones who brought us into this,” Bland says of the Eiffel Tower project. “The city had hired a group to build this Eiffel Tower and I think as time started winding down, it got closer to the deadline, the group — the Latinas Welding Guild of Indianapolis — needed help, so they reached out to Wilhelm and Wilhelm reached out to us.”

While Latinas Welding Guild of Indianapolis had completed the fourth section of the Eiffel Tower replica, the other three had yet to be completed. In fact, Bland says, two of the sections needed to be modeled, so the folks at Poynter got to work — and the turnaround was swift. 

“We got this information, let’s say on a Thursday, and we had two guys work all weekend and got it turned around. We had a model ready by Monday,” he says. Poynter employees Daniel Wiley and Vinnie Smith were responsible for modeling the two sections, and Bland praises them for their efforts. 

It took just six days for Poynter to assemble their section. The company received its first notice on May 15. “We didn’t get any parts until May 31 in the afternoon, so we started fabrication May 31 and we finished up June 6,” he adds. The company was supplied all the parts cut to size and assembled their section quickly.  

The replica, which is made of angle iron, came together thanks to F.A. Wilhelm, who built the bottom section, Poynter, who built the second section, R.A.D. fabrication, who built the third section and Latinas Welding, who completed the fourth section. JQOL was the structural engineer on the project, while Maxed Coatings handled the painting. 

Bland says he was happy to be a part of the project. “The effort that our shop put in to make it happen in the short time period,” he says. “It was very important to our president, Joseph, to do this and we all made sure we made happen.”

While the Eiffel Tower replica was taken down on June 24 (not before a couple got married under it!), it is slated to be moved to a new location within the city. At press time, that location has yet to be determined.