Ginny Nilles remembers the Village of her childhood — a vibrant area with a candy shop, a drugstore, clothing stores, a grocery store and a shoe store.
She grew up on 710 N. Martin St., and she said the area was a mainstay for local families. But the 1970s were a turning point for the Village as we know it, a district that now caters to college students and lacks its original identity.
"It definitely happened after I graduated from high school," Nilles said. "When I came home [from college], I began to see changes."
Nilles finished college and lived away from Muncie until 1995, when she came back to help take care of her parents. She calls the mid-1990s a rebirth.
"When I came back to Muncie, it seemed to be on the rebound," she said. "Things changed and different shops came in. The student body really, I think, dictates what goes on down there, largely because students are the ones mainly utilizing it."
The director of the Muncie Public Library and co-chairwoman of Muncie Action Plan now lives on Riverside Avenue within walking district of the Village, but she never goes there anymore.
"It is primarily a student and/or faculty destination," Nilles said. "The only time I go there is to go to Scotty's."
George Branam, her MAP co-leader, has lived in the area since 1966. The 80-year-old pathologist owned the University Square and other Village properties with his business partner Jerry Wise for several years until about 2005. The stress of being a landowner was starting to wear on him, Branam said. Then he turned the business over to Myles Ogea, who faced four cases of bankruptcy last spring.
Branam agrees the Village isn't as lively as it used to be, but the area was never identified in the early stages of MAP planning as something that needed fixing.
What is now University Square used to be The Collegiate, Branam said. It was full of department stores that catered to townspeople and students. Dill Street Bar and Grill used to be a family salon until Branam and Wise turned it into a restaurant.
"We had crowds. It was booming for a while," Branam said.
Around 1980, they bought out the Athletic Annex and started their own store called Sports Tech. Other highlights of the area included a clothing store called the House of Purple and other local favorites like Buffalo Wild Wings, La Bamba and the Blue Bottle, which have since relocated.
At one time, Branam had big plans. For example, he wanted to demolish University Square and put up a new building further back from University Avenue with green space in front. He considered making it a small hotel or a building with multiple functions, with shops on the first floor and office space above it.
"We thought we should petition the city to close part of Gilbert Street and join the property we owned in the back," he said.
Branam was part of the Village Merchants Association several years ago. It disbanded in the late 1990s, he said. But at the time, it helped represent local business interests and keep the area clean.
He's no longer a major business force in the area, but the Village is still special to him.
"I've lived in Muncie since 1966," he said. "It's my home. I've always liked Muncie."
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