Two resolutions approved Monday by the Westfield City Council call for a more thorough probe of Grand Park’s finances after a council member alleged one of the park’s contractors had diverted $470,000 away from the city.
The move by Mayor Andy Cook follows a controversy in July over contracts for Grand Park Sports Campus and his veto of a city council resolution for review and approval of all Grand Parks contracts.
Mayor Andy Cook passively vetoed a Westfield City Council-approved resolution Thursday by not signing the measure, meaning proposed additional oversight of Grand Park’s contracts will not take effect unless the resolution is approved a second time by the council.
The Westfield City Council on Monday eliminated Grand Park admission fees for city residents and imposed new oversight of park contracts after a council member alleged the group in charge of baseball operations had diverted almost a half-million dollars from the city.
All 32 NFL teams have been told by Commissioner Roger Goodell to hold training camps at their home facilities this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the expected economic impact to the region is high, Westfield officials say they don’t expect the closure to have a game-changing impact on the city’s budget.
A Westfield developer’s plans for 68 acres next to Grand Park include a major planetarium and space science center, laser tag venue, jump park, bowling alley, indoor/outdoor go-kart track and driving school.
Westfield-based Henke Development Group, which helped the city develop Grand Park, plans to spend $77 million developing Championship Park, a commercial development on land next to the sports park. A hotel could also be part of the project.
City officials say Grand Park is just starting to show its full promise, and they’re hopeful the TIF district generates enough revenue by 2023 to fully cover Grand Park’s debt payments.
The city of Westfield has quietly used its Grand Junction tax increment financing fund to begin settling a lease disagreement with NinjaZone, which comes after the inaugural Colts Camp at Grand Park last summer took over the events center because of inclement weather.
With three days remaining, the Colts camp has already received more visitors than it did in its final year at Anderson University. But the crowd numbers are still well below what they reached early this decade.
The development, proposed for the southwest corner of Wheeler Road and 181st Street, could be started in spring 2019 and open in fall 2020 if approvals are received and fundraising goals are met, YMCA and school officials said.
Sue and Chris Estep, owners of RoundTripper Baseball Academy in Westfield, say they met with Mayor Andy Cook to discuss the possibility of relocating to Grand Park.
The city of Westfield’s contract with Carmel-based Urick Concessions, which has been operating the outdoor food stands at the sports complex since it opened in 2014, ends Dec. 31.
The Indianapolis Colts will pay Westfield for using Grand Park and let the sports complex keep revenue from parking fees and food and beverage sales. But there are costs associated with hosting the training camp.
Team officials and officials from Westfield have scheduled a morning press conference to reveal “a major partnership that will make Westfield a destination for sports fans beyond youth sports,” the team said.
The city of Westfield has quietly purchased the Grand Park Events Center from South Bend developer Holladay Properties, but the action remained largely unnoticed.
NFL Hall of Famer Roger Staubach will be a partner in the merged company, which will maintain the LST Marketing name.
The company dreamed of becoming a major hospitality industry player and saw Grand Park Sports Campus as the place to hit a home run. But there were signs of trouble from the start, and unpaid bills quickly piled up.
The tournaments had been hosted in Indianapolis for more than 25 years but they’re moving to Westfield for at least one year while Little League looks for a new Central Region headquarters.
