Little League picks Whitestown for regional headquarters after withdrawing from Zionsville site

Little League International announced Saturday it plans to relocate its Central Region headquarters to Whitestown, although it did not identify a specific location.

The announcement comes several weeks after the organization withdrew plans to build the headquarters in Zionsville after neighbors of the proposed site drafted a petition, collecting more than 600 signatures, opposing a housing project tied to the project.

Little League International’s Board of Directors voted to relocate the regional headquarters to Whitestown during an annual meeting Saturday. The plan is pending a formal agreement, details of which were not immediately available.

“After a thorough evaluation of local communities within the Central Region, the Little League International Board of Directors are pleased that this opportunity involving Whitestown was presented to us and we are looking forward to seeing what the community has to offer,” Hugh E. Tanner, chairman of the board of directors, said in written comments.

“This opportunity takes us one step closer to finding a home for our Central Region headquarters, and we are excited to see how the Whitestown community will be able to support Little Leaguers throughout the region.”

The organization will work with Whitestown officials and community members throughout the process, a press release said. No other details regarding the selection process or any future plans are available at this time, it said.

Whitestown spokeswoman Tanya Sumner told IBJ that Whitestown officials approached Little League in an effort to keep the headquarters in Boone County after plans for the Zionsville location fell through.

Town manager Dax Norton and the parks director were on a plane Saturday, headed home from the Little League World Series as the news broke, she said.

Williamsport, Pennsylvania-based Little League International announced in November it would locate its Central Region headquarters to Zionsville after a long multi-state site-selection process. The youth baseball and softball organization's Central Region headquarters had been located on the northeast side of Indianapolis since 1989.

Zionsville was among 70 communities, including Westfield and Plainfield, to submit proposals. A 20-acre site at 8602 E. County Road 500 South in Zionsville was chosen for the complex.

In March, Pulte Homes of Indiana filed paperwork with the town of Zionsville detailing plans for a 57.7-acre site that included the proposed Little League headquarters. Pulte Homes had an agreement in place to purchase the land and donate 18 acres to Little League.

Under the plan, land bordering Whitestown Road would have been occupied by Little League’s new headquarters, and the remaining land—about 40 acres—would have been developed into a 78-home subdivision.

Almost immediately, neighbors cried foul, saying town leaders and those helping to attract Little League to Zionsville weren’t upfront with residents about the project.