The luxury hotel planned for the site of the canceled Chicken N Pickle project in Fishers District will carry Hilton’s boutique Curio Collection brand and is now expected to cost $70 million or less, according to a report by Mickey Shuey of the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Fishers-based BW Development plans the five-story, 125-room hotel on a 1.52-acre parcel south of USA Parkway, between the firm’s two-building retail project under construction and the Fishers Event Center. When Mayor Scott Fadness announced the hotel in February, it was pitched as a $75 million, unbranded project replacing Chicken N Pickle, which scrapped its Fishers plans in late 2025 after missing the city’s development timeline.

BW Development originally planned to use Hilton’s contemporary Tempo brand but switched to the higher-end Curio Collection last month, IBJ reported. BW co-owner and Chief Growth Officer Troy Woodruff said design modifications brought the expected cost to between $60 million and $70 million.

“The Curio gives us a lot more flexibility, and it operates within the framework and the quality of the type of hotel we’re wanting to build,” Woodruff told IBJ, noting that few comparable hotels exist in Hamilton County or Indianapolis.

The Curio Collection includes more than 200 properties in 47 countries, with 120 more in Hilton’s pipeline. Curio hotels are individually designed and typically command higher room rates than Tempo properties.

Woodruff expects demand from teams and partners tied to TWG Motorsports’ Cadillac Formula One program, as well as executives visiting JD Sports, which announced in June it will move its North American headquarters to the nearby former Navient property on USA Parkway.

The project is working through city approvals, though it was pulled from the July 1 Fishers Planned Use Development Committee agenda to give the developer time to fine-tune costs. Completion is still expected by mid to late 2028. BW has the site under contract from the city, contingent on approvals and financing.

Plans call for a rooftop bar and pool, 14,000 square feet of ballroom and event space, a cafe and patio, and at least 20,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space with at least four restaurants. BW is also spending $33 million on 30,000 square feet of upscale retail and restaurant space next door as part of The Crossing expansion.

The Crossing is part of the $750 million, 123-acre Fishers District developed by Indianapolis-based Thompson Thrift Development. BW sister company Build BW is the general contractor, with Indianapolis-based Ratio as building and landscape architect.

This summary is based on original reporting by Mickey Shuey for the Indianapolis Business Journal.  You can read the entire story on the IBJ Web site at this link.  You will need an online subscription to access this story.  As I have written many times before, subscribe to your local media!  That is the only way to keep local journalism alive.  

With the resignation of Principal Brian Behrman, Fishers Elementary School has a leadership vacancy just weeks before classes resume August 5.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board has scheduled a 7:30am meeting Thursday, July 16, to vote on a recommendation from district administrators naming a new principal for the school. The published agenda does not disclose who administrators will recommend.

Members of the public may address the board by signing up at the meeting before the session begins. Comments will be limited to the lone agenda item — approval of the new principal.

The board accepted Behrman’s resignation at its July 8 session. If the appointment is approved Thursday, the incoming principal will have less than three weeks to prepare before students return.

This week’s Fridays with Larry podcast focuses on one of the biggest changes in college athletics in decades — Name, Image and Likeness, better known as NIL.

I begin the podcast with commentary on how NIL has reshaped college sports by allowing student-athletes to profit from their personal brands while opening new opportunities for businesses to partner with them.

My guest this week is Erik Braden, CEO of Fishers-based Braden Business Systems. He discusses why his company chose to become involved in NIL partnerships, first with former Purdue basketball standout Braden Smith and now with Indiana University football players Josh Hoover and Fishers High School grad Khobie Martin.

Braden also explains how the company’s NIL program has gone beyond marketing by partnering with Gleaners Food Bank, combining charitable giving with student-athlete appearances to help address food insecurity in Indiana.

The podcast concludes with a lighter story from California, where Disneyland celebrated a major milestone by welcoming its one-billionth guest.

Fridays With Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

You can listen to this week’s edition of Fridays with Larry using this video link, this audio link, or the links below.

I try hard to get the numbers right when writing about public money in any context—and particularly when it comes to public school finances.

Wednesday night’s Hamilton Southeastern School Board meeting generated a lot of news, and in covering it I wrote one sentence that requires a correction. I want the record to be straight.

Here is the sentence from the original story, written the same night as the meeting:

“CFO Tim Brown received board approval for a one-time $6.7 million fund transfer, permitted for one year only by state lawmakers, to alleviate the initial impact of the new Homestead Credit for property taxpayers.”

CFO Brown did cite a $6.7 million figure to the board, but that number reflects the impact of what is described as the property tax “circuit breaker”—including the effect of the up-to-$300 credit on property taxes enacted by state lawmakers. The actual transfer, made as a one-time opportunity under state law, was $2.6 million from the debt service fund to the operations fund. That move is allowed in 2026 only.

In other words, the $6.7 million describes the financial pressure the district faces, while the $2.6 million is the amount actually moved between funds to help absorb it.

Under Indiana law, a school district’s operations fund pays for such things as capital projects, transportation costs, school bus replacement and certain overhead expenditures. The debt service fund, by contrast, is used to repay borrowing such as bonds—so shifting money out of it and into operations is the kind of step the legislature permitted only for this one year.

I attempted to summarize a fairly complex situation in a single sentence and did not tell the whole story. Now you have it.

My latest podcast features a panel from Fishers Fire and Emergency Services: Fire Chief Ky Ragsdale, Communications Director Ashley Heckly and Todd Rielage, who heads recruitment and training for the department.

We began with one of the department’s most visible summer traditions, the cul-de-sac drills. Fire crews bring their trucks into Fishers neighborhoods, hook up the hoses and let kids (and more than a few adults) cool off in the spray. Chief Ragsdale describes it as “a little bit more than sprinklers” — a chance for firefighters to connect with residents on a good day rather than their worst day. Drills run Mondays and Fridays at 7pm through the end of July, with eight more scheduled this month. Anyone can stop by a drill in any neighborhood.

With summer in full swing, the chief also shared his water safety concerns, and they may not be what you expect. While Geist Reservoir gets the attention, Ragsdale says neighborhood retention ponds worry him most — murky water, sudden drop-offs and no lifeguards. The department teaches water safety to every second grader in Fishers public and private schools, and urges families to designate a “water watcher” whenever kids are in the pool. We also talked about the department’s dive teams, based at Stations 91 and 92, and how mutual aid works on Geist, where Hamilton, Marion and Hancock counties meet.

Fresh off the Spark!Fishers festival and the July 4th fireworks, we reviewed how the department plans for big public events, plus fireworks safety at home: keep them on your own property, soak spent fireworks in water overnight before they go in the garbage can, and consider glow sticks instead of sparklers for the little ones.

Mark your calendar for the department’s annual Safety Day, coming to the Fishers Farmers Market at the Municipal Complex on Saturday, August 22. As of our recording, 46 vendors had signed up, along with fire trucks to tour, a safety trailer where kids can practice calling 911, and a school bus for teaching kitchen and sleep safety.

Todd Rielage detailed a record recruiting cycle. By casting a wider net online, the department drew more than 1,000 interest forms and nearly 600 completed applications — up from the typical 250-300 — with applicants from as far away as California, Florida and Washington, D.C. We closed with the growing demand for EMS runs, a fourth ambulance on the way, and how the department now supports the mental health of its own firefighters through peer support.

The LarryInFishers podcast series is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

You can hear the full conversation at this link, or the link below.

Hallett Sports & Entertainment, the family-owned company behind the Indy Fuel hockey team and the Fishers Freight indoor football franchise, has pledged at least $100,000 per year to the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation (HSEF) for the next ten years — a commitment of at least $1 million to support classrooms across Hamilton Southeastern Schools.

The pledge comes from Sean Hallett, president of both the Fuel and the Freight, who recently joined the HSEF board of directors. Hallett told the HSE School Board Wednesday that once he saw firsthand the work the foundation does in local classrooms — funding teacher grants, student scholarships, and innovative learning projects throughout the district — he and his family’s sports enterprise decided to make a long-term investment in that mission.

Founded in 2001, HSEF has invested more than $4 million in programs supporting the students and staff of Hamilton Southeastern Schools. In the 2025-26 school year alone, the foundation funded 45 classroom grant projects totaling nearly $110,000. The Hallett pledge, at a minimum, would roughly double the foundation’s recent annual grant capacity.

The money will be raised through designated games for each of Hallett’s two teams — two Fuel games and two Freight games each season. In addition, the Fuel have ten Sunday home games on the 2026-27 schedule, and fans who purchase through a dedicated link can buy a ten-game Sunday package for $199, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the foundation.

Hallett emphasized that the $100,000 annual figure is a floor, not a ceiling. If the games and ticket packages raise more, all of it goes to HSEF.

The commitment deepens an already substantial relationship between the Hallett family and Fishers. Hallett Sports & Entertainment was instrumental in making the Fishers Event Center a reality — the 7,500-seat arena that opened in late 2024 as the anchor of the Fishers District development. Both the Fuel, who moved from Indianapolis, and the Freight, an expansion team of the Indoor Football League that began play in 2025, call the venue home.

For a foundation that touches every school building in the district, a guaranteed $100,000 a year for a decade is transformative — and if Fishers fans fill those Sunday seats, it could be considerably more.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board approved a number of administrative personnel items at Wednesday night’s meeting.

Superintendent Matt Kegley heaped praise on outgoing Assistant Superintendent for Operations Bryan Rausch, commending his contributions to the district over the past two years. Rausch’s official last day at HSE is July 23.

The board officially hired Andrea Abel as an Assistant Principal at HSE High School. Principal Craig McCaffrey cited a long list of qualifications and Abel’s extensive experience in education.

Rachael Powell will be the new Assistant Principal at Southeastern Elementary, a promotion from her position as a 4th grade teacher. The board also approved the resignation of the previous Assistant Principal, Trae Heeter.

Katrina Curry was officially hired as Assistant Principal at Fall Creek Junior High School, though she was unable to attend Wednesday’s meeting.

The board additionally approved the resignation of Fishers Elementary Principal Brian Behrman.

In other business before the HSE Board Wednesday:

• CFO Tim Brown received board approval for a one-time $2.6 million fund transfer, permitted for one year only by state lawmakers, to alleviate the initial impact of the new Homestead Credit for property taxpayers. Brown also provided a detailed review of how the district continues to draw down cash reserves to cover expenses.
• The board approved a $875,000 bid for a new chiller at Sand Creek Intermediate. The current chiller is 27 years old, and replacement parts have become difficult to find. Funding comes from a general obligation bond, and the project is part of the district’s ten-year building maintenance plan.
• The board approved a set of new policies and reviewed additional proposed changes, which will go to the board’s Policy Committee before a final vote in August.
• In the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Kegley announced that the Before the Bell celebration marking the start of the school year will be held July 30 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater. The first day of school is set for Wednesday, August 5.

NOTE: (I originally reported the fund transfer was $6.7 million, when the transfer was actually $2.6 million.  The $6.7 million figure cited by CFO Brown referred to the “circuit breaker” impact on HSE finances)

Hamilton Southeastern Schools is set to lose a top district administrator and reshuffle leadership at several buildings, according to personnel items on the agenda for Wednesday night’s HSE School Board meeting.

Brian Rausch, HSE’s Assistant Superintendent of Operations, is resigning effective July 23, according to a recommended action before the board. Rausch joined the district in July 2024, meaning his departure comes almost two years after he arrived. The Assistant Superintendent of Operations oversees the district’s non-instructional backbone — areas that typically include facilities, transportation, safety and business operations serving HSE’s roughly 22,000 students across Fishers and the surrounding area.

Also stepping down is Brian Behrman, Principal at Fishers Elementary, who is resigning his position based on an item on the school board agenda.

Several other personnel moves on the agenda would reshape administrative teams across the district:

• Trae Heeter is resigning as Assistant Principal at Southeastern Elementary.
• Andrea Abel is being hired as Assistant Principal at HSE High School.
• Katrina Curry will become Assistant Principal at Fall Creek Junior High.
• Rachael Powell will move from a fourth-grade teaching position to Assistant Principal at Southeastern Elementary.

Personnel actions such as these are recommended by district administration and take effect upon approval by the HSE School Board. Together, the items reflect a busy stretch of summer transition for the district as it settles building and central-office leadership ahead of the 2026–27 school year.

State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, who represents a portion of Fishers in the Indiana House, is in Washington, D.C., this week as part of a bipartisan group of young state lawmakers attending Future Summit 2026.

Garcia Wilburn, a Democrat and co-chair of the Indiana Future Caucus, is joined by fellow co-chair Rep. Beau Baird, a Republican, and Rep. Alex Burton, a Democrat. The Indiana lawmakers are among nearly 100 Gen Z and millennial state legislators from 34 states taking part in the annual gathering hosted by Future Caucus.

The summit runs July 8-11 and is being held as the nation marks its 250th anniversary. This year’s theme is “Next 250 — The Courage to Build,” with a focus on strengthening democracy, improving governing institutions and encouraging bipartisan approaches to public policy.

Garcia Wilburn and Baird are scheduled to serve as featured speakers during the four-day event.

According to Future Caucus, the summit is designed to bring together younger elected officials from across the political spectrum to discuss ways to work across party lines and better serve constituents.

Program sessions include hands-on labs with TikTok and OpenAI, where lawmakers are expected to discuss the use of artificial intelligence and social media for constituent outreach, policy research and the challenges of operating with limited legislative staff.

Another session, titled “The Exit Interview,” will examine why some young Americans are reconsidering public service and what might encourage them to remain involved in government.

The summit will also feature a discussion on building a safer internet for children, including state-level policy options related to online safety, algorithms and the impact of congressional inaction on families.

Future Caucus describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works with young elected officials in Congress and state legislatures to bridge partisan divides and promote collaborative governance.

Volunteers for the Advance HSE Political Action Committee gathered at Hub & Spoke in Fishers Tuesday night to begin organizing the campaign to pass Hamilton Southeastern Schools’ operating referendum on the November 3 general election ballot.

HSE is far from alone. Nearly a third of Indiana’s roughly 290 school districts are asking voters to weigh in on a referendum this fall — a wave driven by Senate Enrolled Act 1, the sweeping 2025 property-tax law. Beyond increasing homestead deductions that shrink the assessed value schools can tax, the law also limited school referendum questions to the November ballot in even-numbered years, giving districts just one shot every two years and pushing many of them onto this single election.

Advance Chair Laura Cole told the group the district has already cut roughly $7 million from its budget and will still need a new referendum to close the gap.

HSE Superintendent Dr. Matt Kegley explained that action by the Indiana General Assembly changed the rules underneath the district. By increasing property-tax deductions, the state reduced the net assessed value used to calculate what schools collect — meaning that even keeping the referendum rate voters recently approved would now generate less money than before. That shortfall is what’s driving the district to seek a new, replacement rate. The measure on the November ballot would replace the operating referendum HSE voters passed in 2023, with revenue earmarked for teacher recruitment and retention, school safety, student behavioral health, and classroom programs.

Guiding the effort is outside consultant Robin Winston, who recently advised the successful Avon Community School Corporation campaign that passed with roughly 65% of the vote. Winston laid out the timeline for volunteers: the election is 118 days away, but early voting begins in just 88 days — the real deadline the campaign has to plan around.

The math, Winston said, is straightforward. There are about 83,000 registered voters inside the HSE district. If turnout reaches 30%, that’s 25,000 to 26,000 votes cast — and the campaign’s job is to make sure enough of them are “yes.”

Winston pointed to the ground game that carried Avon. There, volunteers knocked on some 13,000 doors. When no one answered, the volunteer simply held a campaign sign up to the home’s security camera — turning a missed conversation into one more impression.

With the clock already running, Cole closed the kickoff by recruiting volunteers to chair the campaign’s key committees, putting the first pieces of the organization in place as Advance HSE turns toward the 88 days until ballots start being cast.