When he was 20 years old, Gregory McCauley took a one-way flight to Houston. He sat in the lobby of the Manned Spacecraft Center every day for six months hoping he could convince someone from NASA to hire him.
McCauley, who spent his childhood looking up at the stars from a farmhouse in Kokomo, eventually landed his dream job. He worked with mission planning and analysis for Apollo 15, 16 and 17 and spent almost two years mapping out landing sites on the moon for the Apollo astronauts.
“When you're 20, you are fearless and stupid,” McCauley said. “I was just persistent enough to be at the right place at the right time.”
The Apollo Program ended in 1972, but McCauley’s fascination with space exploration stuck with him, even after he graduated from college and started a career in the semiconductor industry. Now, McCauley is hoping to spark that fascination of space exploration in a new generation. He and his business partners have big plans to bring a development to Westfield that centers around a 175,000 square foot science and space center called Grand Universe.
Space-themed resort and sports entertainment district also planned for Grand Universe development
Close to five years ago, everything was rolling in the right direction for McCauley and Grand Universe. The Westfield City Council unanimously approved plans for the development in February 2020, but not long after that the world changed.
“Everything started to fall apart for everyone because of COVID,” McCauley said. “Everyone backed out of the deals, but it allowed us to reevaluate what we wanted to do and reevaluate our vision.”
At a Westfield City Council meeting this November, new plans for the property and the Grand Universe development were introduced. McCauley and his partners are planning to build on 66 acres of land
The property is adjacent to the Monon Trail and the baseball diamonds of Grand Park.
The plan is to build in four phases, with phase one being the science and space center. It would include one of the world’s largest full-dome planetariums and an observatory with various telescopes.
Plans for the center also include interactive displays and a robotics building with space for up to 2,500 students on the bottom floor for robotics tournaments. There would also be classrooms, laboratories and an underground parking garage with room for 1,600 vehicles.
McCauley envisions students from across the state visiting the science and space center, whether on field trips or with their families.
“Families will have a place to bring their kids who are enthusiastic about our exploits into space and science and technology,” he said.
Phase two of the development would include a space-themed resort with 250 rooms and a 2,500-person convention center. This part of the development would have access to the Monon Trail and will include several restaurants and bars.
The goal is to break ground on the science and space center in March, with doors opening in the spring or early summer of 2027. Work on the hotel phase of the development would begin in March 2026 and wrap up at the end of 2027 or the start of 2028, said Arden Johnson, CEO and president of Grand Universe Development Partners LLC.
Johnson, McCauley and their third partner, Mike Newberg, have secured $600 million for the first two phases of the project, but still have to find $600 to $700 million for phases three and four.
Plans for phase three of the development include a town center district, with commercial and mixed-use properties that have restaurants and businesses on the ground level and living spaces above. Johnson said it could be similar to the Carmel City Center.
"We want it to be live, work and play in the same area,” Johnson said.
Phase four of the development would be the sports entertainment district with sports, art, and entertainment viewing facilities, outdoor plazas and dining. The idea is to draw visitors from Grand Park to the development.
All four phases of development would be tied together with water and natural features, park areas and parts of rocket ships and shuttles for visitors to interact with. There are also plans to use building materials that won’t reflect light and impact play on the nearby baseball fields at Grand Park.
The timing for phases three and four isn’t set in stone.
“That all depends on really the economy,” Johnson said. “The entertainment center might happen a lot earlier. It's going to depend on the needs of the economy and quite frankly what the economy is doing for financing.”
"We believe we’re going to change the world"
Westfield Mayor Scott Willis said Grand Park and Grand Universe, once it's up and running, will complement each other.
"Grand Universe will be a tourism destination itself, with Grand Park right there,” Willis said.
McCauley and his partners decided Westfield was the perfect spot for Grand Universe with Hamilton County, specifically Grand Park, already attracting out-of-town families.
The space and science center would be about an hour away from Purdue University, with its history of graduating astronauts.
"We always wondered why there wasn't more activity around space exploration and education in Indiana for kids,” McCauley said.
And the timing is perfect as NASA plans to send a crew back to the moon in 2026, and SpaceX has detailed plans to colonize Mars. McCauley believes there’s a new space race happening, which will inspire a whole new generation of children.
“Kids are what Grand Universe is all about,” he said. “It's about inspiring these young kids to get involved in science, technology and engineering. We’re idealists and we believe we’re going to change the world.”
What are the next steps for Grand Universe?
Plans for the development were introduced to the Westfield City Council on Nov. 11. The city’s Advisory Plan Commission will have a public hearing to discuss the development at 7 p.m. on Dec. 2 at city hall. Then the plan commission will make a recommendation to the city council in February.
City council will consider approval of the development plans, as well as tax increment financing to assist developers with infrastructure costs, at the Feb. 10 meeting.
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