BROWNSBURG — The Brownsburg Parks Department is slated to present a plan to the Town Council for a new aquatics center, recreation center and amphitheater at Lincolnwood Park on Thursday.
Town Council President Travis Tschaenn said they've heard the outcry from the community. Residents want more things to do in Brownsburg.
"We looked at the economics of it and the area could use another one, even though most of the towns around us have one. Brownsburg is a community of 32,000 people, so we want to keep them here, if we can," Tschaenn said.
Tschaenn says after the council hears the proposal they will discuss options on how to proceed with the project.
"My guess is we might go to a referendum vote on this, and so the community would have the opportunity to vote for it if they want to have this in Brownsburg or not," Tschaenn said.
The Town of Brownsburg purchased the 51-acre property of Lincolnwood Park from the Tague family in June 2018. It's located at 315 W. Main Street.
A town spokeswoman tells WRTV, Wilbur Tague was very well known in Brownsburg and Hendricks County as a professional photographer and he always wanted the property to become a park. He used to have his photography studio and a toy store on the property. On top of all of that, he looked similar to Abraham Lincoln and so he would visit the schools dressed as Abe and give history lessons.
The park is named Lincolnwood Park after his wishes and his love for Abraham Lincoln, according to the spokeswoman.
The proposal comes at a time when Brownsburg has seen growth, marked by over $906 million in business investments since 2020.
"When they put the tax caps in statewide that affected a lot of communities like Brownsburg, that were bedroom communities, where most of your tax revenue came from from residents who were capped at 1%," Tschaenn said. "So we made a conscious effort to bring in more commercial business."
The key development areas include the Ronald Reagan Logistics center, Downtown Brownsburg and Main Street.
One example of business investments is Main Street Dental, which used to be the site of an old gas station. The town says $15-million was invested to redevelop the site.
"I love this place. I love this town. Love the people. They are so nice. I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity - this corridor if we developed," Dr. Ashwani Sharma of Main Street Dental said.
Another example is HMD Motorsports. The racing team moved into its new 80,000 square foot headquarters in March of 2024. The building is a former Marsh Supermarket.
"We're 15 to 20 minutes from the airport. We're 10 minutes from the Speedway," HMD Team President Mike Maurini said. "Everything that we do in motorsports is all within maybe a 15 to 20 mile radius of where we are now. So it's, it makes everything pretty easy."
The town says the purpose of all the investment is to re-invest into the community.
"If you take a look around Brownsburg, we're doing tons of road work everywhere. We have a ton of infrastructure projects that have been put in the back burner for a long time. Those aren't the fun, sexy projects, but they're things that need to get done, and they're things that affect people's lives," Tschaenn said.
The splash pad at Williams Park is also being renovated and basketball courts at local parks are also getting re-surfaced. Town leaders say there will also be more community events and programs this year.
In Downtown Brownsburg, Tschaenn said The Arbuckle recently opened its second building.
"There are mostly young adults living in those. It’s exciting to see some vibrant life something to Downtown Brownsburg," Tschaenn said.
As far as new businesses, Brownsburg is getting two Wawa convenience stores and a Meijer store.
"We do know that Meijer is planning on bringing some restaurants along with it, which we usually see. We can't name any of them yet, but we know that they'll likely have a couple restaurants are from their facility as well," Tschaenn said.
A Town of Brownsburg spokeswoman tells WRTV, the presentation for the aquatics center project and a comment form for residents will go live on the town's website on Friday.
