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Conner Prairie’s plan to expand beyond Fishers and west of the White River received a boost Tuesday night from the Carmel Plan Commission.
The commission’s Committee of the Whole voted unanimously to issue a favorable recommendation for the outdoor living history museum’s rezoning request for 260 acres of land on its west-side property and send the request to the Carmel City Council.
“With this crucial step now accomplished, we can move forward with confidence and enthusiasm toward realizing our vision of creating a world-class cultural and educational hub on the west side of our property,” Conner Prairie Foundation Chair Chris Cooke said in written remarks.
Conner Prairie unveiled plans last August for $24 million in new capital projects that museum officials said would provide a “more complete and more inclusive” look at history and include expanding the museum west of the river into Carmel.
The museum is seeking to rezone the property west of the White River, south of East 146th Street and east of River Road, to the Conner Prairie Planned Unit Development to allow uses it hopes to include in the expansion project.
Conner Prairie developed a master plan in 2018 to study the long-term future of its 1,046 acres of land and the 3.3 miles of the White River that run between it.
The Food, Farm & Energy Experience District would be bounded by River Road to the west, East 146th Street to the north and the White River to the east.
It would include multiple buildings and exhibits, Eli Lilly’s farm and a modern farm, a solar field, trails, woodland, prairie, wetlands, a pedestrian bridge and parking. Visitors to the Food, Farm & Energy Experience District would need a ticket to enter.
The Land, Water & Energy Innovation District would be to the south between River Road and the White River.
It would include the White River Education and Ecology Center, an innovation center with up to 110,000 square feet of office space, a 70-room eco-lodge, cabins, a farm-to-table restaurant, commercial buildings and a trail that would connect to River Road.
The Committee of the Whole spent months reviewing Conner Prairie’s expansion proposal and holding public meetings where details were discussed and analyzed.
Changes from the original plan include reducing the footprint of the development to 15% of the 280 acres of vacant land, rather than 35% as the museum announced last year; decreasing the size of the eco-lodge from 140 rooms to 70 rooms; creating larger setbacks for buildings away from River Road; removing a southern entrance on River Road; and moving the eco lodge and cabins farther away from Prairie Trace Elementary School.
Carmel Plan Commission member Adam Aasen, who also serves on the City Council, said at Tuesday’s meeting there is more work to be done and he wants to ensure that neighbors are involved in the process as it moves forward.
“I think if this was proposed today at city council, we would continue the process and say we have a lot more questions to be asked, but I think on the plan commission level, it is a very good state to kind of move to the next step in the process,” Aasen said.
Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation is also planning to begin construction this year to extend the White River Greenway on land owned by Conner Prairie on the west side of the river. The museum granted an easement to the parks department to construct the trail extension.
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