The Fishers Redevelopment Commission has raised the amount it will cover for a planned multi-sports complex from $15 million to $23 million, a jump tied to a land dispute that threatened to stall the project near the Fishers Event Center. The vote came Wednesday, and commissioners approved the change with no discussion.
According to LarryInFishers, the commission approved an amendment to its professional services agreement with Buckingham Properties on a voice vote with no discussion from members. The original agreement, signed in July, authorized spending up to $15 million to cover steel purchases, design work and other soft costs including engineering. The new ceiling adds the cost of buying the site itself to the list of reimbursable expenses, and attorney Jennifer Messer told the commission the higher number includes a buffer.
Easement Dispute Held Up the Land Purchase
At the heart of the funding increase is a property snag that had been years in the making. Messer told commissioners that Sunbeam declined to grant Buckingham an easement that would have allowed initial site work to begin before the land purchase, even though the city had worked for years to obtain one. Rather than wait, Buckingham decided to close on the property before the project schedule deadline, according to the same report, a move that cleared the way for the purchase but added costs the original agreement never anticipated.
The amended agreement also pushes back the deadline for acquiring the site and signing a lease from Sept. 30 to Nov. 30, giving Buckingham more breathing room to finalize the purchase. At least $11 million of the total $23 million is set aside specifically for building materials, the report notes, with the project reportedly carrying commitments to have a user in the building by a specified date.
City Protected If the Deal Falls Apart
The commission built in safeguards in case the arrangement unravels. Per the same account, the commission will reimburse Buckingham's documented costs if the developer cannot acquire the site, if the city and Buckingham do not sign a lease, or if project financing falls through for reasons beyond Buckingham's control. Should the deal go awry, the property would be transferred to the Fishers Redevelopment Commission, according to Messer.
The planned facility has been described at an earlier meeting as a field house with some office space that would be built and then leased to the city long term. The Fishers City Council has already approved that lease, and the commission's report indicates a public hearing on it is scheduled for Nov. 17, with a vote to follow.
Size Estimates Have Shifted Over Time
Wednesday's report describes the planned complex as 200,000 square feet, but that figure has moved since the project was first publicized. Earlier this year, WISH-TV described the Fishers Fieldhouse as a 180,000-square-foot facility designed to serve both professional and youth sports, part of what the station reported as a $169 million sixth-phase expansion of Fishers District. That same WISH-TV report said the planned flex space could host 10 basketball courts or 20 volleyball courts for large-scale youth tournaments.
Fishers officials have previously framed the project as a way to extend activity in the district beyond its busiest months. A report from LarryInFishers noted the Fieldhouse could fill the district's quieter summer stretch with tournaments, camps and other activities.
Part of a Statewide Building Boom
Fishers is hardly alone in betting on youth and amateur sports tourism. The Indiana Capital Chronicle has reported that the state now has more than a dozen sports complexes promising economic growth, a tourism boost and community engagement. The outlet pointed to the $49 million Grand Park Sports Complex in Westfield, which has 15 clover-shaped outdoor baseball fields and draws around 5.5 million visitors each year, mainly from the Midwest.
Lebanon offers another comparison point. Its 200,000-square-foot Farmers Bank Fieldhouse, also detailed by the Indiana Capital Chronicle, reportedly brings an estimated 60,000 visitors monthly from across the country, according to Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry. Fishers itself has floated large-scale sports venues before: a 2015 proposal reported by WFYI called for a $76 million multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue with a 4,200-seat arena and a 245,000-square-foot fieldhouse, though that plan predates the current project by more than a decade.
For now, the path forward in Fishers runs through the Nov. 17 public hearing and the Redevelopment Commission's vote on the lease that follows. Commission members Brad Johnson, Tony Bonacuse, Damon Grothe, Dan Canan and Anderson Schoenrock approved Wednesday's amendment without raising objections, leaving the project's next milestone squarely on the November calendar.
