Heart of the City promotional events:
Every year Heart of the City, a group of downtown businesses, plans events to raise funds for their organization and provide entertainment to local residents and Ball State University students.
Muncie Gras, Muncie MusicFest and the downtown New Year's Eve celebration are some of the events Heart of the City organizes each year, some of which are open to all ages.
Cheryl Crowder, Heart of the City program manager, said all their events went well, with more people interested in participating and going.
"We're still in the business, so that's good," she said. "The events went really well; they rivaled any other years."
With more students showing interest in the downtown area, Crowder said she hopes to see more events and people downtown next year.
Businesses:
Downtown Muncie has proved to be an area of success for some and defeat for others.
A number of shops and restaurants like EldenWare, Two Johnny's and Lil' Daddy's, opened and expanded their businesses downtown. So far, they are doing well.
Savage's Alehouse, a bar that opened this year, expanded its menu Dec. 2.
Joel Savage, owner of Savage's Alehouse, said the restaurant had more business than he had expected.
The bar opened Sept. 1, offering a wide selection of beer and late night food. With experience in handcrafted beer from working at the Heorot, Savage included about 95 beers in the menu.
Savage said he hopes to have more people and events next year. There is also the possibility of opening the restaurant for lunch.
"We hope to get the kind of clientele who we know will come at a certain time of the day," he said.
While some businesses started getting established downtown, others were going out of business, or just changing their ways.
Ben Delk, owner of Standt's Fine Jewelry, said the shop will close Jan. 8.
Delk said he plans to establish a Web site where he will be able to consult and sell for less.
"It's a new, exciting chapter of my life," he said. "I thought we'd always do business like in the past 46 years, but this is a new opportunity for us."
Delk said he expects the downtown area to continue growing.
"If I were a new business investor, I'd put my business in downtown Muncie," he said. "The downtown area is a wonderful place to make an investment."
The Late Loop:
The idea for the Late Loop, or "Tipsy Trolley," was developed by students in 2007 as a way to bring more students to downtown Muncie.
From 9 p.m. to 3:15 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, a MITS trolley shuttles bargoers to and from campus at no cost for students. Heart of the City adopted the idea by paying for the Late Loop.
However, the Late Loop was not a constant throughout the semester due to lack of funds to pay the trolley. Having the Late Loop running costs $600 per weekend, money Heart of the City did not have until this fall.
The Late Loop began running again in August 2009 through funds raised by Heart of the City and individual businesses. Funds kept the trolley running for the rest of the semester. However, although Crowder said she was glad to see the trolley run this semester, she does not see it running through the spring.
Downtown Businesses Profile Videos:
A group of Ball State telecommunications, journalism and communications students participated in the Downtown Muncie Business Showcase, an immersive learning program that promotes downtown businesses.
Telecommunications instructors Christopher Flook and Elizabeth Pike started the program, in which students work with Indiana Films.
They uploaded 24 profile videos — each lasting 60 seconds — and uploaded them to the student-run Web site. Flook said the project may continue for future classes, depending on the results of this semester's class and the support given by its collaborators.
Flook said he expects the project to have success promoting downtown businesses professionally.
"It's been enormously successful," he said. "The interaction of students with the local businesses was largely positive."
The group has funding for one more semester, during which they will shoot 23 more videos.
Arts and Culture Trail:
During the summer Ball State students started working with Muncie residents to plan a bike trail that would lead through the city's historical and culturally significant areas. The trail will go through the Ball State campus, Minnetrista, downtown Muncie and Heekin Park. The city applied for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant program, which supports cities in transportation and port infrastructure projects.
Graduate urban planning major Jennifer Gerdom said most of the work has been done with the help from the city and downtown businesses.
"I was lucky because [downtown businesses] were ready to interact with students," Gerdom said.
Gerdom said the process is in the stage of raising awareness, to have more support from the local community and students.
Governor's Arts Awards:
The Indiana Arts Commission chose Muncie to be the host of this year's Governor's Arts Awards Ceremony on Oct. 25. The ceremony was held at Cornerstone Center for the Arts.
The Governor's Arts Awards is a biannual celebration honoring individuals, organizations, businesses and communities that have contributed in a positive way to Indiana arts and environment. Gov. Mitch
Daniels attended the event to hand the awards out to the recipients.
Originally held in Indianapolis, the Indiana Arts Commission began hosting the event in different towns in 2007.
To welcome the Indiana Arts Commission, downtown Muncie businesses and galleries moved their annual art expression event, ArtsWalk, up a week early. The artistic spotlight on Muncie represented an accomplishment for the downtown businesses, Crowder said.
"Every year you hope you are recognized for your hard work," she said. "So we're glad we were recognized, and I hope we keep growing from what we already accomplished."
Main Street Community:
This year Muncie was one of 21 towns in Indiana to be recognized as a Main Street Community. The program will allow Muncie to receive economic help for the restoration of historical areas of the city and the opportunity to network with other communities.
Muncie started to work on the downtown area's restoration about 10 years ago, Crowder said.
"When the city started working on restoration, they did not decide to apply," she said. "They wanted to go faster."
Crowder said the program will help representatives in Muncie network with other communities and give the community a direction for the future.
Muncie Action Plan:
The city of Muncie and the Office of Community Development organized the Muncie Action Plan, which started with a series of meetings where community members could say their thoughts about what changes could be made to improve the city.
The idea of creating a community action plan came from a collaborative effort between the mayor, community development, Ivy Tech and other community partners. The project will draw funding in part from a $2,000 fund from the United States Department of Housing and Development and a $50,000 grant from the Ball Brothers Foundation.
Six hundred people showed up for the meetings and in small groups they expressed their ideas for how to improve the community.
Input gathered will be analyzed and presented to the public. A document will then be created and taken to the City Council; the plan is expected to be adopted in May or June.
Downtown Tours:
In the past five years, Heart of the City has sponsored tours to downtown Muncie for parents during Freshman Orientation to attract more parents and students to the area.
Michael Martin, owner of Doc's Music Hall and Heart of the City board member, said about 15 people ride the trolley during the tour and several tours are made every day. He said he has seen an increase in parents taking the tour every year.
"We are hoping it will be a good showing [this weekend]," he said. "We've seen the connection between downtown and Ball State students increase."
The tours have gradually increased the number of students visiting downtown during the past years.
Ivy Tech in Muncie:
In a collaborative effort, Ivy Tech community college acquired the former Star Press building downtown from the Muncie Redevelopment Commission in early September.
That donation came just weeks after Ivy Tech was given part of the $20 million Fisher Building — the current location of The Star Press, and other offices.
The process has led to enthusiasm among residents and business owners, who are waiting for the start of classes on Jan. 11.
Crowder said students visiting daily will attract new business and available downtown.
"I think we are going to see in the next year downtown explode with youth," she said. "I really do and I absolutely love that."
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