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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowMarian University, St. Vincent Health and four amateur sports groups have entered into formal discussions that could result in major changes to the northwest-side campus, the university announced Tuesday.
Joining Marian and St. Vincent in the discussions are Indiana Sports Corp, Play Ball Indiana, USA Football and USA Track and Field. The groups have signed 180-day memorandums of understanding to “explore opportunities to partner in the redevelopment of the Indy Cycloplex—home of the Major Taylor Velodrome—and the area surrounding the Marian University campus,” the university said.
While the talks are exploratory, one project is more concrete and could be open by 2017 or earlier: St. Vincent Sports Performance would like to build a sports-performance facility for serious athletes as part of the development that would cost an estimated $14 million, Marian University President Daniel Elsener said Tuesday at a press conference.
St.Vincent CEO Jonathan Nalli and Indiana Sports Corp President Allison Melangton joined Elsener at the press conference.
Located just south of the intersection at West 38th Street and Cold Spring Road, the Indy Cycloplex is a city park that includes the historic velodrome, a newly renovated BMX track and a cyclocross course.
Marian University manages and operates the property through a 15-year agreement with the city that began in April 2011. Marian’s national powerhouse cycling team uses the velodrome as its home track.
While no firm plans are in place, the groups are likely to discuss the possibility of relocating their offices or some of their operations to the site to create an “amateur sports community,” officials said.
The four sports groups are all based in Indianapolis, but are spread around the city.
Facilities for research, training, sports safety and performance are among the possible development options on the table. Such improvements could attract other sports-governing bodies to Indianapolis, Melangton said. Another possibility could be a youth multisports park.
“Using current and planned assets at Marian University—in the neighborhood and in the larger Indianapolis community—we can attract clinics, camps, and seminars, and support cutting-edge research on issues relating to sports performance and recovery,” Elsener said.
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