Muncie’s Hiatt Printing building torn down to make way for Ball State hotel

Demolition crews at Ball State University today tore down the former Hiatt Printing building that was recently the focus of an eminent domain case between the school and a local business owner.

Ball State owned all the land around Hiatt Printing on McKinley and University Avenues when the school announced in 2012 that it would build a new hotel and restaurant complex on the spot. Named McKinley Commons, school officials said the building would be run by students.

When business owner Chris Hiatt wouldn’t sell to Ball State, the university Board of Trustees voted to use eminent domain to purchase the building. The school said the new complex was for public use. Hiatt fought the eminent domain claim in court, and the University dropped its bid for the building in June of 2013, postponing its hotel project indefinitely.

Then in May of this year, Ball State announced it had bought Hiatt Printing’s McKinley Avenue building and the hotel would go forward. This summer, University Treasurer Randy Howard said Ball State had hoped to break ground on McKinley Commons sometime in the fall.

The hotel is slated to hold 100 rooms and two restaurants. Chris Hiatt’s printing business is still operating at its other location on Wheeling Avenue.