Indianapolis-based Chin Baptist Churches USA has purchased a 110-acre site in Johnson County and plans to build a seminary and other amenities there.
The Baptist group purchased the former Tameka Woods Golf Course in Trafalgar from the Tameka Woods Family Limited Partnership for $2 million. The sale closed Dec. 11.
Rome Thalop, the CEO of Indianapolis real estate and investment firm The Thalop Group Inc., is a member of the Chin Burmese community and is serving as an advisor on the project.
Thalop said the group purchased the Tameka Woods site because Central Indiana’s growing Chin Burmese community needed space for things like church retreats, conferences and youth sporting events.
Thalop said an estimated 35,000 Chin Burmese people live in Indianapolis, concentrated on the city’s south side. Because the United States’ total Chin Burmese population is only between 130,000 and 160,000, Thalop said, Indianapolis is a popular location for events that draw Chin Burmese from around the U.S.
“We don’t really have a space to accommodate them as of now,” Thalop said.
The Trafalgar site was appealing, he said, because it’s not too far from Indianapolis and because of the acreage it offers.
“We won’t find 100 acres on the south side again,” Thalop said.
Now that Chin Baptist Churches USA has secured the Trafalgar site, Thalop said the group is working to develop site plans for the property.
In general, Thalop said, the vision is to build a Baptist seminary along with other religious and community amenities such as a spiritual retreat center, recreational facilities such as a soccer field and tennis court, a museum of Chin culture and a multi-use event space.
Including the cost of repurposing two existing buildings on the property, Thalop estimated it will take between $20 million and $30 million to develop the site, with the first construction likely to begin in 2027.
Chin Baptist Churches USA has 111 member churches in 27 states, and Thalop said the churches will begin raising money for the project this year.
Tameka Woods, which closed recently, had been owned and operated by James A. Hague III.
A phone message left at the golf course Thursday was not returned, but according to the Tameka Woods website, Hague got into the golf business in the 1970s, after he had served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Hague helped his father build and operate Johnson County’s first public golf course, the now-defunct Indian Springs, before opening Tameka Woods in 1989.
Copyright © 2026 All Rights Reserved.