McKINLEY COMMONS TIMELINE
McKinley Commons has been in the works since 2012. Here's a timeline about the stages it has gone through:
April 23, 2012 — The university gives a written $400,000 offer to Chris Hiatt, owner of Hiatt Printing, for his business located on 506 N. McKinley Ave. where McKinley Commons is proposed to be built. The offer was $25,000 more than a market estimate.
April 25, 2012 — Ball State announces the McKinley Commons project, a four-story residence hall, hotel, conference center and restaurant space. The building is expected to house beds for 50 students and 100 hotel rooms, replacing the university's existing hotel in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center.
Aug. 2, 2012 — The Board of Trustees cancel a meeting to discuss acquisition of Hiatt Printing, as the project is at a standstill. A university spokesperson said the meeting was canceled because Ball State was currently in formal and informal negotiations with Hiatt.
Sept. 5, 2012 — Ball State authorizes a plan to use eminent domain to obtain Hiatt Printing. Eminent domain allows government agencies to acquire property that will work to enhance the public good.
March 2013 — Delaware County Circuit Court 5 rules against Hiatt Printing in the eminent domain case. Hiatt said he planned to appeal the case to protect his four decades of business.
June 6, 2013 — Ball State drops the eminent domain case after a court ordered appraisal of $375,000 was offered for Hiatt Printing, but Hiatt requested $1.3 million. A university spokesperson said the gap could not be reconciled.
April 26 — Hiatt announces plans to close his McKinley Avenue location May 16 in an email to university customers. Instead, his business on Wheeling Avenue will have longer hours for students. He also worked out a deal with T.I.S. College Bookstore in the Village to allow students and professors to pick up course materials.
May 16 — Ball State announces plans to move forward with the McKinley Commons project after purchasing the Hiatt Printing location for $450,000. Hiatt Printing on McKinley Avenue closes.
After demolishing the former Hiatt Printing building, Ball State has yet to begin construction on the McKinley Commons project.
Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for marketing and communication, said designers are working on exact details for the project. After the designs are finalized, they will be sent out for bidding on construction.
The building will consist of a hotel, residence hall, restaurant, a sales area and classrooms designated for those particular studies.
Planning for the project began in 2012 but was halted when Chris Hiatt, owner of Hiatt Printing, declined Ball State’s $400,000 offer for the property.
After a dropped eminent domain case, Hiatt Printing closed this summer. The university bought the land for $450,000.
Deanna Pucciarelli, program director of the Family and Consumer Sciences department, said the hotel will be run by a collaboration between Ball State and a commercial company.
"Faculty are responsible for immersive learning courses, but students lead the problem solving in partnership with community partners," she said. "In this case, the community partner will be the hotel franchise."
Students will be able to help lead sales and host events in the hotel, as well as work residence hall positions and help out in the restaurant and with catering.
The classrooms will be in the basement, and the hotel open to the public will be in a separate wing.
Pucciarelli said Ball State’s Family and Consumer Sciences program is the first in the U.S. to have incorporable elements in a living-learning community.
The project is set to be completed by April 2016.
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