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Plans are being developed in Westfield for a $1.2 billion development centered on space exploration and science education east of Grand Park Sports Campus—a project that has been in the works for 12 years.
Members of the Westfield City Council on Monday night heard an introduction for the 66-acre Grand Universe Planned Unit Development, between 186th and 191st streets, which would feature four districts and science, technology, engineering and math-related installations involving rockets, rocket boosters, engines and outer space.
“This is supposed to be an innovative, immersive destination for learning, recreation and leisure, offering education, value and, as well, entertainment,” Andi Metzel, an attorney with Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, told council members. “Local appeal, but also tourism appeal.”
Grand Universe Development Partners LLC CEO Arden Johnson told council members that the first two phases of development would include construction of the 170,000-square-foot Grand Universe Center for Science and Space Exploration, which would include a full-dome planetarium, and a hotel. The second phase of construction would include a sports-focused district and a commercial and mixed-use development with multifamily housing.
Johnson said both phases would cost about $600 million each. A timeline for construction has not been determined.
The Grand Universe project is led by Johnson and Greg McCauley, who is CEO of Grand Universe and a partner with Grand Universe Development Partners. From 2012 to 2018, McCauley operated the Link Observatory Space Science Institute near Martinsville.
Metzel told council members about the four districts proposed within the Grand Universe PUD.
On the southern end of the campus near the intersection of East 186th Street and Wheeler Drive, the Grand Universe District would feature the Johnson Hagerman Center for Science and Space Exploration and a STEM pavilion with events and amenities. The center would also have parking and student and group drop-off and pickup areas.
Metzel said Grand Universe would look to work with NASA and SpaceX to place rocket boosters and other space technology on-site.
“It would have multiple observatories on-site,” she said. “Really state-of-the-art type of innovation.”
The Resort District, north of the Grand Universe District and along the Monon Trail, would feature a hotel to provide lodging for visitors.
The Sports Entertainment District on the northwest side of the site near the intersection of East 191st Street and the Monon Trail would include sports and arts and entertainment facilities with outdoor plazas and dining. It would also feature an area called Creek Park with natural elements and plantings in open spaces with a mix of trails, pathways, sidewalks, respite areas and connections to the Monon.
Metzel noted that the Sports Entertainment District would be focused on being a place to watch sports and would not compete with Grand Park.
“We’re talking more sports and entertainment,” she said. “So, it is a place to watch sports, to see art, to have entertainment. It is visual component as opposed to a playing component.”
The Town Center District, east of the Sports Entertainment District, would have commercial and mixed-use buildings with retail, office and high-density multifamily housing.
Metzel said the number of hotel rooms and housing units have not been determined. Grand Universe would have about 3,690 parking spaces between garages and surface lots.
Tomlinson Road, which runs down the middle of the Grand Universe PUD site, would become Grand Universe Boulevard.
Indianapolis-based Browning Day is the architect for the project, while Fishers-based The Hagerman Group is the general contractor.
Metzel noted that the Grand Universe concept first started a dozen years ago.
In 2019, McCauley teamed with Birch Dalton, managing director of Westfield-based EdgeRock Development LLC, for a plan to build Grand Universe. Along with the science space center, plans called for a laser tag venue, jump park, meeting space, bowling alley, indoor/outdoor go-kart track and driving school.
While the Westfield City Council approved the plan, the pandemic killed the endeavor before it began.
Last year, McCauley said he planned to host a groundbreaking at Grand Universe on April 8, the day of the total solar eclipse, but the event was postponed.
“I appreciate how this has evolved over time,” City Council member Kurt Wanniger said. “I just cannot imagine driving down [U.S.] 31 or up 31 and seeing those large rocket boosters with a module on top of them and what that would look like for Westfield.”
A neighborhood meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 25 at the Westfield Washington Public Library.
The Westfield Advisory Plan Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing at its meeting on Dec. 2, a workshop on Jan. 21 and to issue a recommendation on Feb. 3. The Grand Universe PUD could return to the City Council for final approval on Feb. 10.
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Based on mycase history, I expect Musk will get to Mars before anything happens here.
How is this being funded? Looks like an amazing project but it was hard to raise money to build a small Y for Westfield. Who is providing the 800 million dollars for a non profit museum?
Where is the money supposed to come from?
This is one of those things that sounds great in principle & it’s good to dream big, but if Westfield isn’t careful, the museum & themed hotel will turn out to be a neglected, sticky, and forgotten fad. It sounds like the fever dream of 1950s highway ‘attraction’ and the late great Nickelodeon Hotel.
Traveling kid’s sports have become a real financial burden for families. Broadly, these facts plague Westfield’s economic development strategy; the City gets plenty of visitors thanks to grand park, but each visitor spends a minuscule amount of money because the demographic tends to be cash strapped & low on time.
The museum and hotel would have to be spectacular to get money from this demographic or to attract people to Westfield on their own merits. The museum probably needs a $1B in space artifacts to be worth people’s time & money. It’s not like the museum can make up for the lack of compelling artifacts with Westfield’s non-existent space history or by building a worthwhile observatory (Westfield in the middle of Central IN’s light pollution bubble).
It’s unlikely that a couple boosters from NASA and SpaceX will be enough… If it turns out that Arden Johnson can cash out a billion dollars in Southern Companies Inc. stock to buy cool space stuff, go for it. Otherwise, Westfield just shouldn’t subsidize the hotel nor museum. Too much risk. The rest of the project seems great, though.
Agreed.
If I were a member of Westfield government I would demand this group provide urine samples prior to any further meetings.
Infosys and Cruz’s Lafayette Sq mall are good examples of expensive visions and dreams not being sustainable. This fantasy seems even more so.
At least its not another sports development!