Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley held an open conversation with Muncie residents Thursday night.
Highlighting a number of local infrastructure triumphs of the past year as well as some familiar problems ailing Muncie, McShurley and Connie Gregory, Muncie community development director, spoke for an hour during the Chat With the Mayor at Carnegie Library.
For the first portion of the chat, Gregory gave a community development report, which boasted a number of city projects including recent improvements to city streets and local parks.
Gregory's report listed projects the city will work on in the near future, such as replacing windows at the YMCA to improve energy efficiency and the refurbishing of the pool in Tuhey Park near downtown Muncie, which will cost about $90,000.
The meeting also featured updates on deteriorating properties around Muncie. McShurley said more than 4,000 properties are under that designation.
Bruce Frankel, urban planning and development professor at Ball State, suggested that the city should start working to revitalize some Muncie neighborhoods, including one near campus on McKinley Avenue.
"I used to be a community development director," Frankel said. "Every time I went to a convention with other community development directors, they always had a substantial rehabilitation plan. The point is somebody needs some incentive in order to fix up their house."
Frankel is hoping the city will provide that incentive by spending some of the $8 million the city has as part of the third Neighborhood Stabilization Plan.
McShurley said Frankel's plan would be an unpopular one.
"Most people are taking about tearing down blighted properties, not rehabbing them," McShurley said. "I have been advised that that McKinley neighborhood needs to be imploded and rebuilt from the infrastructure up."
Frankel said he would be presenting a plan to the mayor soon to try to revitalize some of these buildings along with a nonprofit organization he leads, the Muncie Neighborhood Rehabilitation Organization.
Read More
Stretch of cooler temperatures entering into the weekend
By Evan Reed / 2 hours agoWeather Forecaster Evan Reed has the latest on the continuing cooler temperatures next week.
Self-immolation outside Manhattan courthouse where Trump trial is adjourned
By Staff Reports / 11 hours agoA person, who was later identified as Max Azzarello, self-immolated outside of the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is on trial. Azzarello was extinguished and rushed away by emergency services. He is in critical condition at Weill Cornell Medicine - Burn Center, according to a press conference held by the New York Police Department (NYPD).
The closure of the historic Mark III Tap Room impacts Muncie’s LGBTQ+ community.
By Meghan Holt / 16 hours agoPatrons of the oldest gay bar in Indiana reflect on how it affected their lives.
