After a two-day beach party, which required filling the entire first floor of Dill Street Bar & Grill with sand, Ball State alum Shane Nelson remembers the hours it took cleaning up afterward with co-workers and friends.
“I can’t even tell you all the ridiculous pieces of clothing and random stuff we found in that sand,” Nelson said.
As a bouncer at Dill Street for five years, Nelson remembers the craziest nights of his job. During his first few years working there, he said there would be close to 1,000 people who would come through the door each night, even on weekdays.
“People would wait hours outside just to get in,” he said. During the last few months of 2014, a handful of people sat in the once buzzing bar.
“When I heard Dill was closing, I couldn’t believe it,” Nelson said. “If you were to ask any Ball State student three or four years ago if they thought Dill Street would ever close, they would just laugh. No other bar could ever compete with Dill Street. That bar revolutionized the nightlife in the Village.”
Nelson said what made Dill Street stand out was that it was the only place people could really go to dance. Even if you didn’t like to dance, Nelson said the old Dill Street had an upstairs where people could go to look down and laugh at those dancing below.
He said he thinks that eventually, people are going to miss the fun they had at Dill Street.
“Everyone complained about how ‘dirty and nasty’ Dill Street was, but they came back night after night,” Nelson said. “Even in the freezing cold people would wait outside for the doors to open on a Friday night.”
In the absence of Dill Street and The Locker Room, only a handful of local bars remain for students choosing to have a night out in the Village. Despite rumors, each bar plans to stay open at this point. Workers at the remaining bars have come together as a part of the Village community, and they open up about what it means to be a Village bar.
For some response from your favorite bars, read on at BallBearingsMag.com
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