In 2007, Westfield envisioned the creation of an exceptional sports complex. Partnering with Hamilton County Tourism, Westfield studied the concept of a 400-acre multi-sport campus, and in 2010 the plan was put in writing. On June 21, 2014, Grand Park Sports Campus officially opened.
But since then, there has been little planning for further economic development at Grand Park, including dining, entertainment, hotels and tourism opportunities. In 2023, Hamilton County Tourism initiated a study with Hunden Partners of Chicago, a real estate development advisory practice specializing in master feasibility studies for destination assets.
That study was completed in early 2024. Westfield’s Director of Economic Development Jenell Fairman presented the findings of that study to the Westfield City Council July 8. Fairman said in 2023, Grand Park recorded 1.3 million unique visitors, totaling 5.5 million visits to its 31 sports fields, 26 diamonds, and three indoor facilities. Development would focus on creating more opportunities for those visitors, including entertainment — venues that include dining and entertainment — as well as retail, agritourism, family entertainment, hotels and sports technology centered office space.
“We’re looking for creating vibrant, mixed-use districts that support hospitality and community engagement,” Fairman said. “If anyone attended the (U.S. Olympic) Swim Trials over the last month and had the opportunity to be on Georgia Street and see what was happening surrounding Lucas Oil Stadium and the convention center, that vibrant street environment where you can have a celebration and people can gather and they can celebrate this really amazing event that is happening in their community, we can have that also in Grand Park.”
The study showed Grand Park is Indiana’s biggest tourism asset. Among all arenas, convention centers and sports complexes in the United States, Grand Park ranked as the 16th-most visited venue in 2023, just behind the United Center in Chicago and ahead of ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, which had 4.9 million visits in 2023.
The study included market research to identify priority sites for entertainment, recreation, commercial development and residential development within Grand Park. The result is a “what could be” development concept, created by Hunden Partners with assistance from MKSK Planning of Indianapolis.
The concept focuses on public space surrounding two existing stormwater ponds connected with a canal and boardwalk system.
“The idea with this would be to create a very impactful waterfront property where people can use paddle boards, kayaks,” Fairman said. “They would be able to rent them on one side and they could paddle through that canal over to the other side and have this opportunity for recreation on the lake. This is something that we really are lacking in Hamilton County, especially for those of us who are further away from White River where we don’t really have the opportunity to get into the water and experience it as a nature feature. So, this would be a really great attraction for the area that would really center our mixed-use development.”
Fairman said the plans would include parking garages in addition to residential, hotel, retail, restaurants and entertainment. A winter park concept to potentially include an indoor ski slope is also included on the list of potential developments.
Fairman said the city has already begun the process of creating a detailed master plan of the area. Development of the area would likely come in three phases over a 10-year time span. Workshops for the master plan will continue through the fall. Fairman said a draft master plan should be ready for review by November, with completion and adoption of that plan by early 2025.
Mayor Scott Willis said the planning is long overdue.
“We have got to do a better job about what we’re creating around this park,” Willis said. “I think this is what we’ve been talking about in Westfield for a decade, and finally we have a vision for it. We’re going to be very aggressive moving forward.”
