A proposal for a dryland diving center was approved unanimously on May 27 at its second hearing before the Noblesville Common Council. The proposal was returned to the plan commission last month after the council determined too many changes were made to the submitted project since it received a 9-1 recommendation to not adopt from the plan commission at its March 17 meeting.
Senior planner Joyceann Yelton said the commission felt the proposal was not compliant with Corporate Campus use standards and also had an issue with the gravel drive and parking lot during its March meeting.
After hearing the commission’s concerns, owner and Olympic diving coach John Wingfield went back and made several changes to the original plan including paving an entrance and parking lot, providing landscape and removed the potential cabins for lodging athletes.
When the revised plan returned to the commission on May 19 it received a unanimous favorable vote. Yelton said the business would be temporary and received for 10-year waiver.
“We’re prepared to do it for that limited amount of time,” said Wingfield, who wants to train through the 2024 summer games. “If things progress (around the site at Corporate Campus) we’ll look to move.”
Wingfield said the indoor training center at 14707 E. 141st St. includes a 90-by-90-foot pole barn training facility with approximately 8,100 square feet. There would not be a pool inside the barn, but trampolines, practice equipment and gymnastic mats.
“What the other countries do and we do to produce Olympic champions,” he said, adding training would be conducted at the site and Forest Park Aquatic Center.
Wingfield plans to begin construction in the fall and hopes to begin creating Olympic athletes in Noblesville next summer.
“The goal is to bring athletes from around the world to Noblesville,” he said. “My goal is (to) offer a camp program and train world-class athletes.”
