Just ahead of the wrecking ball, the World Headquarters of the Religious Conference Management Association has moved.

For more than 23½ years, RCMA offices have been housed in the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome) in Indianapolis.

But because of the expansion of the adjacent Indiana Convention Center, the Dome will be demolished in the coming months.

For the first time since 1984, RCMA employees will see daylight during their working hours. Their former offices in the Dome had no windows, as they were beneath the bleachers. The closest outside windows were nearly a quarter of a block away, in the entrance doors to the stadium.

Reflecting on the first days in the Dome, RCMA Executive Director DeWayne S. Woodring recalled the staff sitting on the floor to do their work — the furniture on order had not arrived.

Also, the in-office phone system had not been installed. Not to let this deter the incoming calls, phone lines were strung across the floor of the reception room — one to the front desk and one around the corner to the director's office. Several very old residential-type phones were attached to the ends of the lines. When an incoming call was for Woodring, the office manager rang a small handbell so he would know to pick up his phone.

Eventually, the furniture arrived and a more sophisticated phone system was installed, so the RCMA staff rose from the floor, and the handbell took its place among the association's memorabilia.

The new offices are in a complex of buildings in the northwest quadrant of Indianapolis housing international headquarters of associations and corporations.

Save The Address

RCMA's new address is:

• 7702 Woodland Drive, Suite 120 Indianapolis, IN 46278

• Phone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses, remain the same.