A Muncie summer recreation site has a new owner after 57 years of business.
Sydney Landis purchased Tract 2 for $80,000 at an auction Monday night. The 21.1 acres include the original Water Bowl, a diving stand, a beach front, a beach house with a concession stand and restrooms, a miniature golf course, a sand volleyball court and a shuffleboard court.
Landis said he plans to keep the recreation site running.
"We’re going to keep it as a family entertainment area,” Landis said. “[We are going to] try to build it up and bring it up to the way it was back in its heyday, put some new life into it and make it a family orientated place.”
Since moving to the area five years ago, Landis said he and his two children fell in love with the site and have been going annually.
“We can’t let it turn into some kind of industrial development,” he said.
Don and Barbara Irving put the land up for auction because of their failing health.
“My parents need a break,” said Dave Irving, the owners’ son. “It’s kind of bittersweet. All my life, that’s all I’ve known.”
His grandparents, Kenny and Virginia Irving, opened the Water Bowl in 1957. Dave Irving said ever since, it has been an iconic piece of Muncie history.
“I’m happy, [because] it was time,” Dave Irving said. “Everything has its time.”
He said he is glad for the new owners and is willing to help them out as much as he can.
“I’m going to do everything I can to help him and show him the ropes and the ins and outs of running the place,” he said.
Although an open date is still undetermined, Landis is looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s a big undertaking for us,” he said.
Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co. auctioned off the 169-plus acre property in three parts for a total of $831,000.
The remaining land was split into two sections. Tracts 3 and 4, totalling nearly 50 acres, sold to Don and Deanna Case for $141,000. Tracts 1, 5 and 6, which is more than 100 acres, sold to David and Sherry Berry for $610,000.
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