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A Las Vegas-based not-for-profit founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt that is dedicated to advancing spinal cord research and treatment is planning to relocate its headquarters to Carmel.
Conquer Paralysis Now, or CPN, announced Tuesday that it will spend $21.4 million to purchase, renovate and equip the former Five Seasons Family Sports Club facility at 1300 E. 96th St.
The facility will house the organization’s headquarters and its second Driven NeuroRecovery Center, which will provide fitness, wellness and rehabilitation for people affected by paralysis and other neurological conditions.
CPN plans to begin work on the facility next week and begin relocating to Carmel by the end of this year. The not-for-profit expects to start providing client services in 2024 and create up to 40 jobs by the end of 2026.
“It is our global mission to address the overwhelming need for greater access to neuro rehabilitation care while we continue to inspire research into finding cures,” Schmidt said in written remarks. “The opportunity to plant our stake in the ground in the Midwest—in a city that means so much to me and where we’ve received so much support—is one we couldn’t pass up.”
Services offered by CPN will include fitness programs, adaptive sports, aquatics, physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, mental health services, recreational programs and research support to local universities and hospitals.
CPN will partner with Indianapolis-based NeuroHope, a not-for-profit outpatient therapy clinic.
Founded in 2000, CPN is a global project of the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation. Schmidt established the foundation after he sustained injuries driving an IndyCar in January 2000 that left him a quadriplegic.
CPN opened its first Driven NeuroRecovery Center in 2018 in Las Vegas. The organization plans to open more Driven facilities across the country.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. committed up to $660,000 to CPN in the form of incentive-based tax credits based on CPN’s job-creation plans. The tax credits are performance-based, and the organization is eligible to claim them once people are hired.
The IEDC will also provide up to $750,000 in redevelopment tax credit credits.
Five Seasons Family Sports Club closed in 2017 after more than 20 years in business in Carmel. The club opened in 1996 as Five Seasons Sports Country Club and was part of a small chain of clubs owned by Covington, Kentucky-based Corporex Cos.
The facility had 16 tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools, a cafe and bar, child care facilities, racquetball, squash and basketball courts, and meeting facilities.
In July 2016, Corporex asked Carmel officials to rezone the 15.4-acre site from R-1 residential to allow for a planned unit development district. The submitted plans at the time included renderings for two configurations of the property, each calling for at least 295,000 square feet of office space and a multi-level parking garage with at least 1,300 spaces.
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This is a fantastic reuse of the former Five Seasons. Best wishes to the new owners.
Awesome!
This is fantastic news for anyone with spinal cord issues in the Midwest. This group has done wonders in Las Vegas for years. Sam is such a classy person and has a passion to help others.
Terrific News. Great use of this facility. Congrats and much success.
Wonderful repurposing of a great site.
Congratulations Sam! You picked up right where Christopher Reeve left off, and you’ve taken this challenge to a whole new level. It’s an honor to know you.
I wish this facility hadn’t sat vacant for years waiting for a midrise office complex to never materialize, but what a cool reuse. Sam Schmidt seems like a really really great guy. One of the local sports radio stations interviewed him in May about this organization as it was at the time (in Vegas and Phoenix) and it seems like this will be a great help to people in the midwest who are suffering from those sorts of ailments to get help and such.