During the last few weeks, there have been rumors the Muncie Public Library would buy a piece of valuable property from Marsh Supermarkets.
On Wheeling Avenue, Marsh owns the building that housed the former Ross Supermarket and later LoBill Foods. With the idea that Marsh is seeking buyers of its stores, the building on Wheeling Avenue will most likely be sold for less money than the company is seeking because of its less-than-ideal commercial value.
The fact that Muncie Public Library was thinking of expanding the Kennedy Library branch on McGalliard Road seemed to be the perfect match between a business looking for a buyer and a great public institution planning to expand.
Now, that prosperous and great future will more than likely never come to pass. This week, Marsh rejected the library's letter of intent because of the library's lack of funds to pay the hefty price set by the third-party firm, Cushman and Wakefield.
This is a great tragedy to the Muncie population in both the public and private sectors.
The Muncie Public Library is one of the best institutions in the city, and the Kennedy branch is in need of renovation, as the projects at the Carnegie and Maring-Hunt branches are now complete.
With Marsh losing money from the property in taxes and expenses, the company should have more carefully considered the opportunity to find a mutually agreeable deal with the library. And as time goes by, Marsh will continue to lose money until it finds a buyer.
The location of a new library would have been great for the economy north of McGalliard Road. With the closing of Leath Furniture, Wheeling Avenue north of McGalliard is beginning to look more sparse than ever. The library would have attracted an increased number of people to the overlooked area.
On top of that, Kennedy Library is in need of a new location. Its current location in the middle of McGalliard Road is not ideal. The library has a small parking lot with limited accessibility from the overused road.
The strength of the public library system in Muncie is its ability to rely on all the branches. When the Maring-Hunt branch was being remodeled, Kennedy Library was there to fall back on. During the lengthy renovation of the downtown Carnegie Library, the Kennedy branch was used by more patrons than ever before.
Now, a company that has always tried to be seen as a great donator to Indiana education refused the library's offer to buy one of its unused buildings.
As a patron of the Muncie Public Library - and especially the Kennedy Branch - I wish this deal had gone through and worked out to the benefit of both parties involved. Considering the Kennedy Branch and its location on Muncie's north side, I feel the 35,000 square feet of the former Ross Supermarkets building would have been a sufficient and worthwhile gain to the 12,000 square feet the Kennedy branch has now.
The owners of businesses on Wheeling Avenue near the former Ross Supermarket would probably have welcomed the installation of a library at that location, since it is currently an empty lot. Since Marsh bought Ross Supermarkets a few years ago, the economy in that area of town has seen a decline.
And with the death of this deal between the two local entities, these businesses can dread an even greater dip in their revenues.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
