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A Carmel-based developer plans to begin construction next month on a $100 million theme park along U.S. 31 in Sheridan after the project received rezoning approval Tuesday night.
Sheridan Town Council members voted 4-2 to approve a rezoning request by Monarch Ventures LLC, a new division of Circle Property Group, to build SkyLake, a 126-acre theme park planned at the northwest corner of U.S. 31 and 216th Street.
Circle Property Group leaders expect to break ground on SkyLake in June, while development plans will still require approval from the town. The first phase of the park, which will feature a six-acre manmade lake, could open by June 2026. Total construction time could take six years.
“Before we head into winter, there will be some pretty significant components,” Circle Property Group Chief Operating Officer Lee Coulter told IBJ. “It’s going to be hard to miss the 500-foot-long, 65-foot-tall sledding hill emerging there along 31.”
The all-season, nature-based theme park’s primary feature will be a lake with white-sand beaches and rentable land-based and floating cabanas. The lake will also have a 40-foot-tall slide-and-jump structure called a Boaz X Tower, a 300-foot floating obstacle course and paddle board areas.
Several other attractions are planned for SkyLake, including:
- a 6,000-square-foot splash pad
- Sky Slide, a 500-foot-long all-season snow tubing hill
- the Sky High Adventure Zone, a 3-story ropes course in a wooded area
- SkyLinks mini-golf course
In the fall, the park will offer hayrides through a corn maze, while the tubing hill is expected to be the central feature of SkyLake’s holiday season festival.
“Something we’ve seen is the community starving for an area like this that can handle a lot of people for festivals and where people can go out and have a great time,” Circle Property Group President Phil Sack said. “We definitely wanted to make it where we focused on having all those festivals being available on the SkyLake campus.”
A 40,000-square-foot building called the Central Pavilion will offer upscale food and beverage options, event spaces and guest amenities. Restaurants and retail businesses are also planned along Dunbar Road and 216th Street. The park is expected to employ between 250 and 300 seasonal and operational workers.
Sheridan and Hamilton County officials are in the early stages of discussing an interlocal agreement for the county to reconstruct and widen Dunbar Road from State Road 38 to 236th Street. Westfield has jurisdiction over 216th Street.
“It’s an attraction where you can be 1 year old to 100 years old, and you’re going to have a good time,” Sack said. “What makes it exciting to me is just knowing that we’re providing something that can be open for all seasons and be able to take advantage of all kinds of festivals and events.”
Sack said that planning for SkyLake began about four years ago and started with the idea for a lake and an inflatable water park. Over time, the project grew into a theme park with nature-based family activities.
“Over the four years, that’s when it just kind of developed into, OK, we really need this, especially here in Indiana, and how can we find a campus that can support all this?” Sack said.
Sack and Coulter both said the SkyLake’s proximity to Westfield’s Grand Park Sports Campus was key in determining where they wanted to build the park. The 400-acre Grand Park, which is about six miles south of the SkyLake site, drew 1.3 million visitors and 5.5 million individual visits in 2023. They anticipate SkyLake could draw 500,000 visitors by its second year in operation.
Sack also noted the importance of the $65 million Hamilton County Regional Utility District, which will eventually extend water and sewer services along U.S. 31 in northern Hamilton County between 216th and 276th streets.
“I’ve realized that what we have, even if we didn’t have Grand Park there, it would still be successful,” Sack said. “But teaming up with Grand Park and both of us working together to make sure that we give these tourists a great experience, I think will be huge for that area.”
SkyLake is planned in a part of Sheridan that was in unincorporated Adams Township until Jan. 1. Voters last November approved a reorganization plan to consolidate Sheridan and Adams Township into one town bounded by the county lines on its northern and western borders, east to U.S. 31 and south to 216th Street.
“This project is the first major development along the US 31 corridor since Sheridan gained control of planning and zoning of the area earlier this year,” Town Council President Silas DeVaney said in written remarks. “I feel tonight’s approval of SkyLake sets the tone for the 31 corridor and we will continue to be thoughtful about how our community changes over time.”
Sheridan Town Council members Daniel Bragg, DeVaney, Eric Gifford and Levi Schrock voted in favor of rezoning the property for SkyLake, while Councilors David Kinkead and Ron Stone opposed the ordinance. Councilor Floyd Barker did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
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Sure sounds contrived!
This will be a huge asset for Hamilton County.
Hmmm. I give it 5 years – of promises. Dead on the vine. BAD IDEA. Dead. Indiana is NOT a “surf” sate. Suckers will lose millions. It still can be a political move for the funny money people.
Don’t see enough to attract people. A man made lake that will dry up. A snow sledding hill? Expect people to pay to sled! Good luck.
They might be able to use the lake 4 months a year. The tubing hill maybe 2 months a year if they install snow making equipment since most winters are mild around here now. They will have to charge some very high prices with those facts to be successful.