Former opera house in Carroll County slowly becoming tech hub
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A farmer and entrepreneur in a small Carroll County town is working to transform a 115-year-old opera house into a tech hub benefitting the entire community.
Neil Mylet and his team have been working for the last four years to salvage the Camden Opera House, which he said was in a state of “utter disrepair” and could have faced demolition.
Mylet has personally financed the project–to the tune of approximately $500,000–replacing thousands of feet of floor and ceiling joists, putting in new flooring, repairing the roof and installing fiber optic cable.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Mylet said he was inspired to find a solution for always having to travel out of state to work on his technology projects.
“Over the course of time, I realized that one of the biggest hindrances to opportunity for kids and entrepreneurs from rural communities was lack of physical infrastructure in which to invent and innovate,” he said. “So during the pandemic when everything was shut down, I had a lot of extra time, like most people did, just sitting at home…and the opportunity came about to buy this 115-year-old building, and we’ve been at work on it ever since.”
Camden is a town of fewer than 600 people, located about 70 miles northwest of Indianapolis. Mylet, a sixth-generation owner of Mylet Farms and a Purdue University alumnus, says he wants to turn the town into the “hard tech capital of rural America.”
Mylet said he wants the tech hub to serve as a beacon for technology and innovation, bringing folks from around the globe to the small Indiana community–and he has already made strides in that regard.
Ireland-based robotics company Helgen Technologies had already committed to teaching workshops on robotics and digital twin technology at the restored opera house. But Mylet said that commitment has grown.
“Helgan is going to move their U.S. operations to Camden because of the vast research and telecommunications infrastructure we’re building to commercialize intellectual property on our farm,” Mylet said. “With the business implications of this infrastructure, we’re bringing people here that normally wouldn’t come to a small Indiana town.”
Additionally, Finland-based aerospace startup Viima plans to launch its 3D-printed drone in Camden. The company is also donating an advanced 3D printer so students in Carroll County can come to the opera house and gain first-hand experience with aerospace engineering.
“What Neil is doing in Camden is just the sort of community we are looking for, creating new technology and sharing knowledge,” Viima co-founder and CEO Ilpo Hämäläinen, said in written remarks. “We are really glad to be a small part of this initiative.”
Colorado-based Zayo, which acquired Intelligent Fiber Network in Indianapolis in 2021, has provided the opera house with a 10 gigabit internet connection, and Mylet said the fiber infrastructure will benefit other parts of the town, such as the Camden-Jackson Township Public Library.
“There’s very little wiggle room when it comes to programming and community outreach projects,” said Librarian Caitlyn Baird. “To think that such a small, rural community would have such innovative tech is simply unheard of, but with the tech coming to town, we hope it’ll draw more people to visit and utilize our library as more of an asset and to put Camden on the map.”
The whole goal, according to Mylet, is to give kids, families and entrepreneurs a place to utilize technology to make content or help build a business idea.
“Most families in Camden can’t afford a state-of-the-art computer, but their kids would love to create content for YouTube, code new apps, and learn about hardware design,” he said. “With the fusion of technology and mentors, the Opera House would provide a vibrant space for learning and opportunity.”
When complete, the tech hub at the Camden Opera House will feature a computer lab, sound recording studio, classroom, a secure telehealth room, coffee shop, and a studio for producing podcasts and video content or hosting community events.
Mylet said he hopes to have the computer lab up and running in 2025, but the entire project could take another five years to complete.
While he is self-financing the entire project, Mylet hopes to take advantage of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s CreatINg Places program, which provides matching funds up to $50,000 for projects that hit a crowdfunding goal on Patronicity.
While a crowdfunding campaign has not yet begun, Mylet said hitting the goal and receiving a matching grant from the state would allow for the purchase of electronic equipment for the opera house and the completion of construction.
Mylet said he hopes the project serves as a model for other communities of similar size.
“This is on the magnitude of what municipalities or towns usually do, and I have happened to do it myself,” he said. “And that’s okay, but my hope in doing this is to create an example of why small towns need infrastructure investment above and beyond the internet. The internet alone is not enough to bring 21st century opportunity to the kids and families of rural Indiana, and we’re going to work as hard and long as it takes to make this happen.”